Blackwell rebels demand bid talks

THE family dispute at Britain's biggest privately owned publishing company will come to a head this week when the board of Blackwell Publishing faces fresh demands from rebel shareholders to sell the company.

Rival publisher Taylor & Francis has tabled a £300m bid, but Blackwell's board says it wants to remain independent and float on the stock market in two or three years.

Now shareholders plan to use an extraordinary general meeting on Thursday to try to force the board to open talks with Taylor & Francis. And they will vote on whether to appoint new directors to represent the views of rebel shareholder Toby Blackwell, who wants to sell the company.

He controls at least 34% of the voting shares and also owns most shares in Blackwell Ltd, the bookshop chain that owns 9% of the publishing company.

However, the bookshops are run by his son Philip who supports the publishing board and owns 5% of the publisher's shares. This stake could be enough to tip the balance in the dispute.