IT all seemed done and dusted as the galleries were cleared and the landlords put To Let signs in the front window. But now it appears there may be life in the Partridge name yet, as an unnamed consortium announced last week that it had acquired the brand.
"Partridge has been acquired by a consortium," a spokesman told
ATG. "It includes W. Thomas Restoration, the firm's interest in
Antiquax, the library archive and the trading name."
Further confirmation that a deal had been done came from
Dreweatts chairman Stephan Ludwig, who revealed that his company
had been beaten to the post in their bid to acquire Partridge.
"I can confirm that we did make what we considered a very full
offer in the context of the company's recent history and were the
underbidder,"he told ATG. "While we were disappointed not to secure
the deal, we wish the new owners every success."
Mr Ludwig declined to expand on what his plans would have been
had he been successful in his bid, but the Partridge name and
client list would certainly have proved useful in boosting private
treaty sales at Dreweatts.
Meanwhile, the phones at ATG have been buzzing with calls from
people who claim to have knowledge of what has been going on behind
the scenes as the administrators prepared the business for
disposal.
While none was prepared to go on the record, more than one named
Sir Richard Sykes as the man behind the new deal, with a price of
£200,000 mooted.
ATG have not been able to confirm these details at the time of
going to press.
Sir Richard, a celebrated biochemist, former chairman of
GlaxoSmithKline plc and until last year Rector of Imperial College,
London, is said to collect Chelsea porcelain.
What remains unclear is where former Partridge chairman Mark Law
fits into the picture. He remained tight-lipped following the news
that the company had been sold.
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