Walkinshaw May be Forced to Sell Arrows

Arrows boss Tom Walkinshaw revealed on Saturday that he may be forced to sell his team, after being prevented from introducing new investors because of a clause in an agreement with shareholders Morgan Grenfell.

Walkinshaw has brokered a last-minute deal to compete in this weekend's British Grand Prix but is still in financial trouble and the team is still in danger unless that clause changes or he can find a suitable buyer to take over.

In an early morning press conference, held before the team's cars went out on track for Saturday's opening practice session at Silverstone, Walkinshaw explained that he has had to personally fund the continuation of the team.

He added: "The whole thing is a complicated situation but Morgan Grenfell is trying to extract a value to their shareholding and the investors were not prepared to pay their price to agree a deal.

"They prevented funding and we were in a situation where we couldn't put new money in and the existing parties could not contribute to the company."

Plans to introduce new investors were hit by the repercussions of the September 11th terrorist attacks, but Walkinshaw had notified Morgan Grenfell in April that a new investor was interested in the company.

He claimed they blocked the deal and demanded that any new investor purchases their shareholding rather than simply investing as a sponsor, leaving Walkinshaw in a dire situation.

Judges in London's High Court, where Morgan Grenfell and Arrows fought a case on Thursday, claimed that the company was "doomed" and added that there had been reason to believe there was fraudulent trading.

But Walkinshaw denied these allegations and said: "I can say 100 percent that we have never traded fraudulently and have never been insolvent. The team was never insolvent because I kept putting the money in."

However, Walkinshaw admitted he may be forced to sell the team if the right investor comes along, and claimed that there are three interested parties and two have confirmed their interest following the problems of this week.

"We had 10 inquiries and we whittled them down to three with real substance," he said. "We have to agree to do whatever we need to do and if the offer comes in for the right value then I have to sell."