Son of Berkeley chief says he has warchest of £1bn to scoop up another big housebuilder and take it private.
Tony Pidgley Jr is still on the hunt to buy a housebuilder, despite the collapse of his bid for his father's Berkeley Group.

Pidgley Jr was forced to admit defeat in his attempt to take Berkeley private on Tuesday, when his offer was rejected by his father – 24 hours after it was made public.

Pidgley Jr claimed that he had been preparing the deal for about a year with adviser Merrill Lynch and a team of investors believed to be willing to provide up to £1bn.

He believes he can still stage a bid for another housebuilder. Pidgley Jr said: "Hopefully the people I have been talking to are still keen to make investments." However, he ruled out a further bid for Berkeley.

Pidgley Jr, who founded private housebuilder Cadenza after leaving Berkeley in 2001, believes investors back his strategy of buying a company and taking it private because many listed housebuilders are undervalued.

Hopefully the people I have been talking to are still keen to invest

Tony Pidgley Jr

He said the Berkeley bid collapsed for two reasons: first, the board was not interested in delisting and, second, it was wary of having a son and father vying for power in the same company.

Pidgley Jr said: "The Berkeley board was not interested in having a discussion along the lines of taking the group private."

Berkeley managing director and founder, Tony Pidgley Sr, who learned of his son's bid after he read about it in the press, said he wanted to keep the company on the stock exchange. He said: "My view has always been known: I don't want a management buyout."

Pidgley Sr said that if his son had been successful, he would have been elbowed aside. He said: "I've always known that it was his dream to run and own Berkeley. I don't believe that he would keep me around."

Pidgley Jr denied this. He said his plan had been to make his father chairman, while he ran the day-to-day business as chief executive. He said: "I would have asked for my father's support in a chairman's role."

The father and son have vigorously denied speculation they are on bad terms, but Pidgley Jr admitted that their relationship probably affected the failure of his bid.

He said: "They are a tight-knit board at Berkeley – [charges of nepotism] probably put them all off. There's always a risk people don't take you seriously."

Some analysts believe that the unlikely nature of the deal and its sudden collapse have ruined Pidgley Jr's credibility in the City.

A source said: "It's taking the p***. It completely scuppers Pidgley Jr's image in the City and may even slightly rub off on his father."

But Pidgley Jr was unrepentant.

The rise and sudden fall of the Berkeley offer

Friday Berkeley’s share price closes at 654p. Saturday Reports emerge that Tony Pidgley Jr intends to make an offer. Monday Pidgley Jr’s company Cadenza makes a statement confirming offer. Berkeley’s share price rises 33.5p to 687.5p at the close of business. Tuesday Pidgley Jr is rebuffed by Berkeley board. Pidgley Jr withdraws his offer. Berkeley’s share price drops 6.5% and closes at 642.5p.