The Government jumped the gun by announcing MG Rover had gone into
administration, as it is a privately owned company it is for the company to
announce it, not the Government, and they still haven't. However without
the SAIC deal there is no way they can carry on, #100M from the Government
or not. Several component suppliers have stopped deliveries unless they get
paid cash in hand, being owned a lot of money, and production has ceased. A
typical Government cock-up, they offered #100M as a 'bridging loan' but only
if the deal was going ahead. Once SAIC heard that they said 'unless you put
the #100M in we won't sign', and MG Rover fell through the gap. Not that
the Phoenix Consortium (who paid #10 to BMW) come out of it without a stain
on their characters, they may have mortgaged their houses as a sign of good
faith five years ago, but in the last couple they have been paid that back
and much more, plus #40M put into their own pension fund, while the workers
pension fund is many millions in deficit. Now they won't get the full
redundancy payments they are entitled, and only a fraction of their pension.
6,000 direct employees, and about another 18,000 employed by suppliers,
mostly in the West Midlands region. As for SAIC, there is suspicion that
they engineered this from the beginning, hoping to be able to pick up the
assets from the Receivers for much less than they would have had to put into
MG Rover to keep it going.
The rights to produce MG badged cars? It is an asset like anything else,
and probably the biggest one in the company, and could be picked up by
anybody and stuck on anything.
PaulH.
----- Original Message -----
> There is hope yet?
>
>> UK's MG Rover denies applying to go into administration or calling in
>> receivers, following statement from UK Trade and Industry Secretary
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