KEY POINTS:
Sir Ron Brierley's investment company Guinness Peat Group is talking up its increased offer for the owner of Newbury horse racing track in southern England.
GPG upped its offer for Newbury Racecourse to £11.50 ($29.41) a share on January 22 and on January 31 posted a letter to shareholders setting out the reasons why they should accept.
GPG disputes the economics of a property development deal the racetrack owner is planning with David Wilson Homes.
The rhetoric in the letter to shareholders is vintage GPG style, cutting to the chase on the issues in dispute.
"The Newbury board is apparently gloriously unaware of the recent slowdown in the UK residential property market and appears to be determined to enter the DWH contract with gay abandon as soon as the offer timetable has run its course," the letter states.
The letter also accuses the Newbury board of "limp rhetoric" and "voluminous rhetoric", but says there is no commitment to firm returns to shareholders from property development plans.
GPG said its objective is to gain control of the company to maximise the value of the racecourse and its surplus land.
The board had "spuriously" questioned GPG's strategy for racing at Newbury, GPG said. But the investment company said it had stated it was committed to the future operation of the racecourse.
Newbury is home to races such as the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup and the Juddmonte Lockinge Stakes.
"The essential difference to the current situation being that GPG will seek to make the business profitable."
GPG was started by Sir Ron after he lost influence at Brierley Investments, the company he began in the 1960s which is now called BIL International and is based overseas.
GPG has a reputation for investing in undervalued assets in unfashionable industries. Its largest current investment is in button and zip maker Coates.
GPG notes that the FTSE all share index has fallen 8.6 per cent since it made its first offer.
- NZPA
