Ford happy with Giltrap offer

Press, 21 January 1987, Page 23

Ford happy with Giltrap offer

NZPA London Car-maker Ford says it has no objections if its main British dealer, Frank Gates, is taken over by New Zealand’s Giltrap Holdings (U.K.), Ltd.

It has told Giltrap that it would retain the maximum number of main dealerships consistent with its current policy if the company succeeded in its bid for Gates, according to a statement from Giltrap’s bankers, Samuel Montague.

The board of Gates has advised shareholders to reject the 120 p a share

offer, which values the company at £lO million (5NZ27.5 million). The possibility that Ford would not renew dealerships if the company changed hands was one of its main objections. The Ford statement did not indicate support for the Giltrap bid, but just indicated that a take-over would not cause problems, a spokesman for Samuel Montague said. Giltrap’s offer closes on Friday. So far it has attracted a 15.1 per cent holding and the spokesman said it was difficult

to tell whether Ford’s assurance would persuade more shareholders to accept. “The difficulty with Gates is that it. is very much a family shareholding. Around 60 per cent of shares are owned either by the family or by people who have conditionally undertaken not to accept the offer. “If it’s impossible to convert a hard backbone of shareholders, then obviously it wouldn’t be a feasible exercise to continue with the bid,” a spokesman for the bankers said.