SALE OF WEMBLEY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19383, 19 July 1926, Page 12

SALE OF WEMBLEY.

WITHDRAWN FROM AUCTION. HIGHEST BID OF £315,000. A PRIVATE OFFER ACCEPTED. [FROM OTTXI OWN CORRESPONDENT.] LONDON. June 15. At the auction sale of the British Empire Exhibition property the highest bid was . £315,000. This, however, was refused. Before the bidding began a man jumped up and declared that Wembley was stolen land. He made a rambling speech on the subject of the famous story of the Page Estate, which comprised twothirds of the County of Middlesex, including Wembley, and which has attracted many unsucessfal claimants. He told the story of a forged will, of bonds held by him and other matters in which no one seemed interested. He was persuaded,however, to resume his seat and bid for the site, and the interruption was soon forgotten. • The auctioneer, Sir Howard Frank, remarked: "I never had fewer words to say at an auction. I am here to sell Wembley. Who will make a bid ?" There was no response from the 150 people present, Sir Howard then said, "Shall we say £500,000?" He came down and down until someone offered £200,000 —£200,000 for Wembley, which cost three millions! The sale included the freehold of about 132 acres and practically all the exhibition buildings and tho stadium. It constituted tho largest single lot under the auctioneer's hammer.

The bidding proceeded by £IO,OOO increases until £290.000 was reached. Then there was a pause, two more bids of £IO,OOO, one of £SOOO, and then Sir Howard remarked that ho had a better offer privately, and consequently he would withdraw the lot from sale. In ' five minutes the room was empty and negotiations had begun for the sale of Wembley behind closed doors. Mr. J. H. Thomas, one of the liquidators, later pn in the day announced that Wembley hacl been sold. Though a veil of secrecy still rurrounds the purchaser of Wembley, it seems to bo Mr. James White, the financier, racehorse owner and theatrical producer, who is acting on behalf of the Beeeham Trust and a syndicate. Mr. White, however, will divulge nothing as to his intentions in regard to the estate or of the amount that has been paid for it. - This deal is nothing out of the way for Mr. White, who was a leading member of the syndicate which, in 1919, paid £5,000,000 for the vast cotton mill interests of Messrs. Horrockses, Crewdson and Company. Two years later he was interested in the brewery dfeal in which Messrs. Peter Walker and Company's interests were bought for £3,000,000. The first of his great speculative deals was the purchase of the Covent Garden estate from the Duke of Bedford for a sum which has been estimated variously at from two to eight million pounds. A deal in which he took a special pride was the purchase of the old General Post Office site in St. Martin's le Grand, for he once worked as a messenger boy at the post office. Another big venture in which he was concerned was the floating of the Dunlop Rubber Company for £2,000,000. Among all his other interests he has found time to develop important theatrical undertakings. Four or five years ago he obtained control of Daly's Theatre, and he is now personally supervising the production of the plays. Mr. White is .not yet 50. He was only 19 wKen he first went into the theatrical business. He bought a circus in Rochdale for £IOO and ran it for two years. Boxing is one of his favourite diversions, and he has staged many popular contests. He is quite useful with the gloves himself, and he personally coaches the apprentice jockeys and stable lads, who are encouraged to pursue the sport at his racing training stables. Mr. White's devotion to sport lends added interest to the speculation as to what will be the future of the Stadium, which forms part of his great purchase. The Stadium is the finest in the world and it was hoped that it would become a great national headquarters of sport.