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Index to British press articles on the Fayeds' purchase of Harrods

The Observer's City editor Melvyn Marckus hints that Fayed's links with the Sultan of Brunei (first aired three months earlier in the Daily Telegraph of 12 December) would provide the Egyptian with access to funds which might then be used to mount a full takeover bid for House of Fraser. 
    Marckus's suggestion is clear.  Fayed was not who he said he was, and the money he would use, should he mount a full bid, would not be his own.

The Observer 
Sunday, 3 March 1985

A FLURRY of buying House of Fraser shares on the London Stock Exchange late last week suggests that the seven-year battle for control of the Harrods store empire may be entering the final stage.
    Speculative support for House of Fraser shares had, by Friday, raised the price 30p on the week to an all-time peak of 346p.
    Speculation over a full-scale £600 million take-over bid for House of Fraser, originally centred around expectations of an imminent offer from the Egyptian Al-Fayed family which acquired a near 30 per cent stake in House of Fraser from Lonrho last November.
    But, by the weekend, it became clear that Lonrho's chief executive, 'Tiny' Rowland, has far from abandoned his plans to acquire House of Fraser. 
    Sears Holdings, the Selfridges retail combine, is also keenly interested in the situation. 
    Geoffrey Maitland Smith, Sears' chief executive, declared yesterday: 'We would be a front-runner if House of Fraser became available.  We have been interested in the situation a long time.'
    Speculation is also rife that the Sultan of Brunei, who recently acquired the Dorchester Hotel in a total package deal estimated at some $85 million, may also enter the fray. 
    Should the Sultan, reputed to receive more than $3 billion a year in oil revenues, emerge as a contestant for House of Fraser, it is almost certain that he would act with the Al-Fayeds. 
    Lonrho, having sold its 29.9 per cent stake in House of Fraser to the Alfayed Investment Trust for £138 million, promptly acquired further House of Fraser shares in the market and now holds around 10 million shares, representing a stake of some 6.3 per cent.
    Expectations of imminent developments have been fuelled by the Monopolies Commission's completion of its nine-month study of the relationship between Lonrho and House of Fraser. 
    A copy of the report was passed to Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Norman Tebbit, on Tuesday, and the findings are expected to be published within two weeks. 
    Speculation in the City last week centred around rumours that Lonrho would be freed from its undertakings not to launch a take-over bid for House of Fraser, although this may be the subject to certain conditions.  Rowland declared yesterday: 'I cannot conceive that the Monopolies Commission would stand in our way again.'
    The Monopolies Commission's original report in 1981 found against a Lonrho/House of Fraser merger which left the two companies in constant conflict. 
    Lonrho is no longer represented on House of Fraser's board and, having sold its 29.9 per cent stake to the Al-Fayeds, clearly feels that the change in circumstances is more than sufficient to allow it to respond to any take-over bid by the Al-Fayeds any way it chooses.
    According to Rowland: 'One can hardly imagine a greater change in circumstances.  We have sold our major block of House of Fraser shares and we are no longer directors.' 
    As to Lonrho's take-over intentions Rowland reiterates: 'We have already undertaken to make an offer for House of Fraser and nothing has changed that.' 
    The Monopolies Commission's findings are now anxiously awaited in the City where the consensus of opinion is that the Government would welcome a final settlement of the Lonrho/House of Fraser fracas.
    Speculators took the view last week that the Al-Fayed brothers -- led by Mohamed Al-Fayed -- might well attempt to pre-empt the Monopolies Commission's findings by launching a take-over bid within a matter of days.
    Lonrho, having already made a profit of some £70 million out of its sale to the Al-Fayeds, clearly has the option (Monopolies Commission permitting) of launching a full-scale bid or, at the least, holding out in the face of any offer from the Al-Fayed camp.
    Meanwhile, the Office of Fair Trading has still not cleared the Al-Fayeds' £38 million transaction. 
    Professor Roland Smith, House of Fraser's chairman, has strongly opposed Lonrho's historic take-over designs and it remains to be seen how he would react to a full-scale offer from the Al-Fayeds.
    House of Fraser director Ernest Sharp insisted yesterday that he was 'not aware' of any negotiations with the Al-Fayeds.

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