Green with rage

[Brian Turner]

Retail entrepreneur Philip Green has revealed the outline terms of a possible bid for Marks & Spencer. The much anticipated offer is worth up to £7bn in cash, plus a 25% stake in a newly-listed company.

Mr Green and his family have committed up to £1.05bn to the bid, a statement to the stock exchange said.

The entrepreneur says the offer is now subject to a recommendation from the M&S board, and a review of financial information he hopes it will provide.

One of the key factors that Mr Green has asked to be fully explained is M&S's contract with key clothing designer George Davies.

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange Mr Green says the offer is dependent on the "satisfactory review" of this relationship with Mr Davies.

Mr Green's proposed bid is backed by £7.5bn from leading investment banks including Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs.

He also wants a review of the investment programme at M&S's Simply Food outlets, Per Una womenswear stores and homewares business Lifestore.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3772049.stm

[Brian Turner]

Entrepreneur Philip Green has said shareholders owning at least 20% of Marks & Spencer are supporting his proposed bid for the iconic retailer. Mr Green hopes these shareholders, including US firm Brandes and Schroders, will put pressure on M&S to back his latest £9.1bn proposed offer.

Shareholders are waiting to see the details of M&S chief executive Stuart Rose's turnaround plan on Monday.

But pressure has been building for M&S to allow Mr Green access to its books.



On Thursday, the board of M&S rejected Mr Green's proposed offer of £4 per share for the retailer, the third bid proposal that Mr Green has put forward.

Now it is up to shareholders, and Philip Green has been lobbying to win their support.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3881111.stm

[Brian Turner]

Talk about a slap in the face - and he's not happy. After chasing down M&S shareholders, they turned around and refused him - perhaps thinking his actions as nothing more than trynig to strip it down for a quick short-term profit via trimming (job losses, office and shop closures, etc).

And Green is not happy as a chappy.

Here's the report. Time for an interesting showdown:



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3895641.stm

Spurned retail tycoon Philip Green has vowed to wage a High Street war on Marks & Spencer after abandoning his £9.1bn ($16.9bn) takeover approach. Mr Green bowed out after he failed to gain the cooperation of M&S's board to allow him to study the firm's accounts.

Just as the dust settled, however, Mr Green fired another salvo, saying his group would now do battle in a High Street "judgement day" with M&S.

At the close, M&S shares were down 19 pence, or 5.2%, at 345p.

Speaking on BBC2's Newsnight programme on Wednesday night, Mr Green said: "What I am fired up about is making sure our businesses - Bhs, Top Shop, Dorothy Perkins - trade their socks off."