Duncan denies takeover
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• Britain's second-biggest haulier, Transport Development Group, has quashed rumours of a takeover following last week's swoop by a Swedish investment company which took a 10% stake in the business.
Sweden's Proventus became the largest single shareholder in the haulage, storage and distribution group when it bought a further 7% of TDG's Stock Market shares on Friday. No other stockholder owns more than 5%.
But TDG chairman Sir James Duncan denies claims made in London's Evening Standard newspaper on Friday that he
has been courting other 4' prospective bidders in the City during the past year. "It's news to me," he says. "We are not talking to anyone about a takeover."
Sir James said the Proventus purchase was a "good move for them. It's their policy to seek investment opportunities whose realistic assets they consider to be undervalued. We have a very strong cashflow and balance sheet and in the long term we expect to see a considerable improvement in our earning performance."
TDG has had a difficult start to 1990 with half-year profits down 22m to 217.8m. However, Sir James insists that people should "not read too much" into the Proventus action: "we are a strong, independent company, one of the finest trans port businesses in the world, and there is everything to be said for remaining independent and free."
The situation might have been different if the move had been made by a foreign or rival transport company, Sir James says. But Proventus, as an investment group, simply wants to make money for its members and has no plans to influence the way TDG is run, he adds.