Transport tycoon wants to restart Rover

James Quinn|Daily Mail13 April 2012

THE production lines at Longbridge have lain idle for weeks. But if Martyn Moseley gets his way all that could change - albeit in nine months' time.

The Solihull-based haulage multimillionaire is putting the finishing touches to what he believes will be a knockout bid that will secure MG Rover's future once and for all.

'They would be mad not to accept it,' he says, confident that administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers will hand him the keys to the factory gates.

If he is successful, production at the mothballed plant could begin as early as next spring, with jobs for some of the redundant 6,100-strong workforce and new models in the pipeline.

Moseley, 50, who has teamed up with a Taiwanese investor, is heading one of three consortia bidding for the whole of MG Rover.

All three have until tomorrow to prove to PwC that they have the cash and the know-how to get the factory up and running.

The other two are believed to be Chinese car-makers Nanjing Auto Group and China Geely Group, although neither is likely to want to resume any form of production at Longbridge.

The exact price tag for the business is anyone's guess. PwC's Tony Lomas originally estimated the assets to be worth £85m, but told creditors earlier this month that they were probably worth less.

On top of that there is the issue of brand worth - not to mention the question of what brands Rover actually owns. Moseley, who worked at Longbridge in its 1970s heyday, will not disclose the financial value of his revised bid.

Reports from the around the time of first bids in May suggested somewhere in the region of £300m, though it is now expected to be considerably less.

The entrepreneur, who co-owns haulier Olton International Freight, says he is raising the funds from his own resources and from outside investors, including an unnamed Taiwanese businessman.

He adds that he has lodged a sizeable deposit. 'My bid is a very, very strong one. It will blow all the others out of the water.'

He goes on to detail plans to dust off the Longbridge site, having already held talks with its owner St Modwen Properties. He also wants to revive the workforce, although not to its recent size. 'We've got two new models designed that we'd need to get into production as soon as possible,' reveals Moseley.

He has spoken to the Healey family about reviving the name - planning to use original designs for the Mini for a revamped version under the Austin-Healey brand.

Moseley has registered a new name for the firm - the Crusader Motorcar Company. 'The initials are CMC, following on from Austin Motor Company and the British Motor Corporation,' explains Moseley, referring to MG Rover's forebears.

He is steeped in Birmingham history - his family has traded goods in the city for 400 years - and is the grandson of Percy Moseley, the selfstyled 'Lord Mayor of the Bullring'.

Not surprisingly, in the light of the criticism heaped on the Phoenix Four - initially hailed as Rover's saviours but then accused of enriching themselves - he insists that he is not in it for the money.

'I have not got any ulterior motive. I do not want big salaries or big houses, I already have them,' declares Moseley.

Lomas and his PwC colleagues have already instructed sales agents to look at breaking up the business, arguing that it could be too expensive to get mass car production back under way.

But Moseley is possibly the best chance there is of MG Rover cars rolling off the Longbridge production lines once again.

Offers pour in for the MG name

IF Martyn Moseley or one of the other bidders for the whole of MG Rover is not successful, the group will be broken up. And the star asset - in terms of interest, at least - would undoubtedly be the MG TF sports car and the associated MG brand.

PricewaterhouseCoopers is thought to have received six offers for the MG TF, with leading bids from Chapman Automotive, run by ex-Lotus boss Colin Spooner, and Welford-Winton, headed by former Powertrain boss Fraser Welford-Winton.

But questions remain over who owns the rights to the car. Reports that the MG brand is registered to Shanghai Automotive at the UK Patent Office are being played down by PwC.

The exact Patent Office registration apparently links to a very small part of the MG, and would not damage the TF's sales value.

The other key interest from bidders has been for Rover's Powertrain engine-making plant. Here the lead bidder is Shanghai Automotive - involved in joint-venture talks with MG Rover before its collapse. PwC officials have been to China to discuss the bid.

But whoever is successful, and whatever the money raised, creditors are unlikely to see anything. PwC warned earlier this month that unless the sales proceeds were exceptionally high, creditors would receive 'nil or negligible' repayment.

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