£25bn Marconi sale was rejected

TElECOMS equipment group Marcon's already-miserable week worsened today as former chief executive-designate John Mayo broke his silence for the first time since his ousting last year.

Mayo claimed that he wanted to sell the now-ailing business for about £25bn during the technology boom but the idea was dismissed without serious consideration by other board members.

In his first interview since legal restrictions regarding his departure from the company last July were lifted, Mayo told the Financial Times that he had suggested to the board in February 2000 that Marconi's £25bn or 900p-a-share valuation was unsustainable and that the group should be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

A friend of Mayo said the series of interviews was designed to set the record straight but that he would not be commenting further.

Shares in beleaguered Marconi-were unmoved at 32 1/4p, valuing the group at less than £900m. The company, which reported worsening conditions in its already-troubled markets this week, said it 'would not comment on history'.

However, Mayo's confessional was the talk of the City as analysts weighed up the potential-damage from a series of revelations, and the prospects for Mayo's return to the job market.

Mayo, ousted last July and given a £600,000 pay-off after Marconi shares were suspended for a day ahead of a shock profits warning that sent the company's shares into freefall, said his strategy to sell the company was rejected after one of the non-executive directors rallied board opposition to the plan by saying: 'We didn't give up on the beaches of Dunkirk, and we are not going to give up now.'

Analysts said the damage to Marconi itself was likely to be limited, with details of current chief executive Mike Parton's actions as head of the group's communications division widely known. However, revelations that the company had to make acquisitions for cash because, in its former incarnation as GEC it had run foul of America's foreign corrupt practices laws were causing a stir. It is also thought Mayo's confessions may not be enough to win him a warm welcome back to the City.

'Most of what he says rings true, but a potential employer would have to look at his reputation as well as what actually happened. I think the fact that he insisted on his full payout would not be terribly helpful. Institutions have long memories and they can get quite vindicative,' said one analyst.