Flotation in view as Clark rebels act to block bidder

REBEL directors at shoemaker C&J Clark are considering bringing the company to the stock market under a plan to thwart a pounds 160m takeover by Berisford International, the commodities and property group, writes Russell Hotten.

The directors may announce this week that they have arranged for an institution to buy out disgruntled investors. Their plans also involve cutting the number of directors, which is likely to mean the removal of relatives from the board - something guaranteed to deepen the divide in the Clark family.

The loss-making company has been in turmoil for months, with directors split over its future direction. C&J Clark, 70 per cent owned by 500 members of the Clark family, is thought to be the UK's fifth-largest private firm.

Many shareholders are keen to sell and most of the board want to continue talks with Berisford, which is offering a mixture of shares and cash. But four dissident directors, led by Lance Clark and claiming to speak for about 40 per cent of shareholders, say Berisford is trying to get the historic Quaker company on the cheap.

Lance Clark's alternative plan is to let the unnamed institution take a minority stake in return for allowing any shareholders to sell.

And according to an insider, the rebels are talking to advisers about a stock market launch in 'two or three years' if C&J Clark's financial fortunes improve. The company, hit by recession in the shoe industry and the flood of cheap imports, has recorded several consecutive profit falls. Figures for the half year to July revealed a pounds 3.5m loss.

Berisford is believed to be ready to accept 75 per cent control. It is resigned to not being able to talk round the four dissidents, who hold 13 per cent of the shares.