King George W hile the biddin g g ame lasts, admire the style
of its undisputed star play- er, George Magan of Morgan Grenfell. Mr Magan it is who, with a nimble purchase of Dunlop preference shares (and what share could be Stodgier than that?), demolished Sir Michael Edwardes's option and put BTR in command of the battlefield at one blow. Mr Magan bought Tilling for BTR — then, the biggest takeover bid ever, and how cheap it looks now! P & 0 sacked its old and true friends at Schroders to get Mr Magan's services. He advised Allianz through its long siege of Eagle Star, to such effect that when BAT Industries finally marched to Eagle's rescue, Allianz were able to withdraw with a profit of £160 million, even after paying the merchant bank's fees. Neatest of all was a defensive ploy, for Rank Hovis McDougall. British Sugar, under threat from •S. & W. Beris- ford which already had 42 per cent of its shares, sought to create a distraction by buying ten per cent of RHM's shares. RHM, advised by Mr Magan, promptly bought ten per cent of British Sugar's shares. After this tit-for-tat raid more than half British Sugar's shares were in hostile hands. Checkmate.
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