The Leyland sell-out story
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MIThe Government announced on April 24 that plans to sell Land Rover and other parts of the British Leyland commercial vehicles set-up have been shelved and all the national papers reported on this the next day, when leading articles were more concerned with the death of the Duchess of Windsor,
The Daily Telegraph reported that all four bidders were disappointed; Lonrho said: This is a typical political decision. We have been used."
Neither that company nor the other bidders, the management buy-out consortium for Land Rover: IC, Bamford or Avelino Barford met the BL valuation.
"But the feeling in BL and Government quarters is that Land Rover could produce around £250 million, either from a Jaguar-style flotation or subsequent sale to an industrial group, once profits start to improve," says the Telegraph.
Commercial Motor, April 26, reported on the bitter war of words between Bamford and the management buy-out team led by Land RoverLeyland chairman David Andrews. The previous week, Commercial Motor had reported that last year Leyland Trucks' trading loss fell to about a third of what it was in 1983. Preliminary results for '85 show that compared with the previous year, Land Rover-Leyland reduced its operating loss from £53 million to £41 million, while the Leyland Group reduced its loss from £61 million to £52 million.