Jaguar for sale to U.K. buyer

Press, 11 April 1984, Page 7

Jaguar for sale to U.K. buyer

NZPA-AAP . London The prestigeous car manufacturer, Jaguar, will be sold by the British Government in September in its drive to put publicly-owned industry into private hands, the “Daily Mail” reports. But there will be safeguards in the terms of sale to keep Jaguar British. The Government is believed to have rejected an approach from America’s General Motors whose British base is parent company of Vauxhall-Opel. GM was apparently willing to pay up to £4OO million (?NZB7O million) — almost twice Jaguar’s expected market price. A senior GM spokesman

said: “We would be very good for Jaguar because all our vast engineering and research-development resources would be at their disposal. But we do not want to get into bed with an unwilling partner.” According to the report, the Secretary of Trade and Industry, Mr Norman Tebbitt, will announce the sale, in a detailed statement at the end of June. The sale provisions will include safeguards to prevent a backdoor take-over by a foreign rival. Jaguar expects to build 32,000 cars this year, bettering the estimated 1983 profit of £3O million (SNZ6S million).