German automaker BMW ended its costly six-year-long ownership of Britain’s Rover Group with
a deal to sell Rover to the Phoenix consortium, led by a former Rover chief John Towers.
BMW estimates that Rover lost over $4.1 billion since it acquired the business in March
1994, and it sold Rover for a token $16 dollars. The deal is effective immediately. BMW had
preferred to sell to British venture capitalists Alchemy Partners, which abandoned takeover
talks at the last minute.
