Perloff puts in offer for rest of Etonbrook

ANDREW PERLOFF, who led a successful shareholder rebellion at Etonbrook, the property investor, in April, has made a cash offer for the shares he and a concert party of related investors do not already hold, writes Tom Stevenson.

At an extraordinary meeting in April, when Mr Perloff succeeded in ousting the existing board, he promised to offer shareholders an exit at the highest price he had paid in building up a 33 per cent stake.

The resulting 79p-a-share offer, being made by Mr Perloff and a company and investment trust he chairs, values Etonbrook at pounds 3.03m.

Mr Perloff plans to retain Etonbrook's public quote and if necessary will reduce his stake below 75 per cent. He and Etonbrook's two other new directors have promised to waive any salary until March 1995.

The offer for Etonbrook marks the latest chapter in a year-long battle for control of the company. Neither the former managing director, Keith Moss, nor the other five ousted directors are to be offered any compensation by the new board.

Etonbrook also announced figures for the year to March showing the reversal of a pounds 181,000 profit into a pounds 1.23m loss. The deficit was caused by a pounds 1.3m reduction in value of company properties including a London building bought for pounds 3.5m in 1989 and valued recently at just pounds 250,000 thanks to the receivership of two of its tenants.

Mr Perloff said that the previous owner of the building, Palmerston Investment Trust, had guaranteed rental income of about pounds 150,000 a month but had failed to make any payments to Etonbrook since March.

He said he was 'astonished' at the amounts his predecessors had spent on legal and professional advice during the attempt to fight off his approaches. The bill during the year amounted to pounds 327,000.

Etonbrook shares ended 2p higher yesterday at 80p.