He would have known about Canary Wharf’s interest in the Wood Wharf development

He would have known about Canary Wharf’s interest in the Wood Wharf development.Mr Reichmann failed to raise the money needed for a bid for Canary Wharf, although he has backed one of the two bidders that have now put their final offers to shareholders.Canary Wharf declined to comment on the Wood Wharf situation. However, it is understood that it is consulting its lawyers about what it can do about Mr Reichmann’s dual role of director and competitor Mr Reichmann’s spokesman did not return calls.. He responded by trying to put together his own offer for the company. Other contenders include Hammerson, British Land, Stanhope and the Duke of Westminster’s property company, Grosvenor Estates.Mr Reichmann conceived and built the Canary Wharf estate, which provides more than 14 million sq ft of office and retail space in east London.He was executive chairman until last year when bids were received for the company. The bidders were told at the end of last week which parties they were up against.The Canary Wharf management was shocked to find out that IPC Advisors was among the 10 short-listed developers. Canary Wharf Group, the Docklands property owner, is considering legal action against its founder and company director, Paul Reichmann, over a £2bn new development.

Other contenders include the entrepreneur Hugh Osmond; Whitbread, the hotel and restaurant group; and Apax, the private equity house.. Before that, an accelerated IPO was used successfully by Collins Stewart to float Northumbria Water, the utility, for £2.2bn, and Center Parcs, the resorts group, for £285m. Industry sources suggested the strategy could put Collins Stewart in pole position for the Premier Lodge deal.A Collins Stewart spokesman confirmed that it had submitted a bid. “During this period and whilst making such statements Acquisitor has been an active purchaser of shares in the market.

The company is concerned that this behaviour may amount to market abuse under the Financial Services and Markets Act, 2000 as being likely to give a regular user of the market a false and/or misleading impression of the value of the company,” its statement said.Acquisitor responded: “This is a cynical and desperate move by a group of men who are frightened their sinecures are about to be removed. We would urge shareholders to focus on the main issue which is simply one of management.”. Collins Stewart, the broker, has joined the £500m-plus bid battle for the budget hotels chain Premier Lodge. The broker recently used this technique to out-bid trade buyers and private equity houses vying for Centaur, the business-to-business magazine publisher.

It has requisitioned an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on 6 May and is seeking to remove the company’s five directors, including Mr Khezri, and replace them with five candidates of its own.Baltimore claims Acquisitor has been systematically trying to undermine it and its board by alleging a lack of financial viability and transparency. “We will contact the FSA ourselves tomorrow and we also plan to sue the directors of Baltimore for damages. They have defamed us, it is as simple as that.”A spokesman for Baltimore said the statement had been drafted by its lawyers.Acquisitor, the biggest shareholder in Baltimore with a stake of 15.35 per cent, has been locked in a dispute with Baltimore’s chairman, Bijan Khezri, for months. The shares fell the following day when Baltimore published its financial results and announced plans to become a renewable energy company.”This statement is inaccurate and defamatory,” a spokesman for Acquisitor said. Specifically, Baltimore referred to one episode on 30 March when it claimed that Acquisitor made critical comments about the company and then bought 400,000 shares, as the price was falling from 45p to 41p.Acquisitor hit back yesterday, saying that on the day in question the shares actually rose in value. The dispute between Baltimore Technologies and its largest shareholder intensified yesterday after the Bermuda-based Acquisitor Holdings said it would sue over accusations that it had deliberately driven down the company’s share price in order to buy stock cheaply.
Baltimore, the former internet star which is transforming itself into a green energy business, said that it had made a formal complaint about Acquisitor to the Financial Services Authority, citing behaviour that might amount to “market abuse” under new financial regulations.The company said Acquisitor had made a series of inaccurate statements about Baltimore at the same time as it was buying the company’s shares.