MG Rover has denied the car company had been structured to deny non-voting shareholders a share of assets, such as Studley Castle.
Kevin Howe, chief executive, said the shares were granted to a trust in December 2000, and assets parent company Phoenix acquired after that would not be included.
He denied accusations of asset-stripping reported in The Guardian yesterday and the newspaper’s analysis of a complex financial restructuring which said that profitable parts of the business were being ringfenced from the loss-making car division.
The Times reports that Ian Pearson, MP for Dudley South, is to press for a full inquiry into MG Rover’s corporate structure.
References: Financial Times 03/03/04 page 5, The Guardian 03/03/04 page 19, page 25 (Leader), The Times (Broadsheet) 03/03/04 page 26 (Need to know), page 33
