Legacy, the consortium 85 per cent owned by Treasury Holdings, has been named as the preferred bidder for the troubled Millennium Dome in London. The group plans to take over the Dome in February and turn it into a "mini-city" creating 14,000 jobs within three years.
Treasury's stake in the consortium is expected to fall as other investors come on board. It is understood provision has been made in the Irish company's agreement with Legacy to allow a small number of "selected players" into the deal. There is also scope for a management incentive scheme.
Sources close to the Irish group, owned by Mr John Ronan and Mr Richard Barrett, said yesterday that it was invited to participate in the consortium last May by property entrepreneur Mr Robert Bourne. Mr Ronan and Mr Barrett, who have more than £100 million invested in the British property market, had existing business links with Mr Bourne and other members of the Legacy team.
It is understood Treasury's contribution to the estimated £125 million that will be paid for the Dome is significant but not pro-rata to its shareholding. They are expected to bring a number of substantial investors on board with them to finance their share of the initial cost of the prime 60acre site opposite Canary Wharf. Bank facilities have been put in place to meet the cost of developing the business park, including a £150 million credit line from Barclays Capital.
Mr Maurice Harte, the chief executive of Treasury Holdings, said yesterday that "Treasury is delighted to be part of the Legacy bid and that the British government has conferred preferred bidder status on the consortium". Mr Bourne has financially backed the Labour constituency party of Culture Secretary and Millennium Commission chairman Dr Chris Smith. This connection meant that Dr Smith was not involved in negotiations to choose a company to take over the Dome, which is owned by regeneration company English Partnerships.
Mr Bourne said last night: "I am delighted that we have now been selected as preferred bidder to take purchase of the Millennium Dome. We have worked very hard over recent months to satisfy the very demanding requirements put before us by English Partnerships . . . and I am pleased that we can now move on to the next stage."
Mr Bourne (50) said that his company's creation - to be known as Knowledge City - would aim to become "one of the world's leading centres of innovation and excellence in the fields of high technologies, e-commerce and bio-science, so that the Dome can become a real symbol of Enterprise Britain".
Legacy said that Knowledge City had the support of such organisations as BT, the London Business School and the Open University.
Ms Hilary Armstrong, Minister for Local Government and the Regions, said Legacy had been awarded preferred bidder status because "they have confirmed that they will resolve all outstanding contractual issues within an agreed timetable".
She added: "Negotiations will continue and if all goes well we expect to exchange contracts during February."
