[airco]

A war erupted earlier today over the 'sale' of Prost GP. The following is a statement from the French outfit regarding the current situation.

Maître Cosme Rogeau, court appointed liquidator of the Prost Grand Prix company, wishes to explain that he had set a deadline on February, 28th at 11:00 am for buy out offers of the Prost Grand Prix production unit to be delivered.

This time limit had been established in order to allow a potential buyer to comply with the deadline imposed by the FIA regarding the drivers registration on the 2002 entry list, the deadline of which was set on February 28th at 4pm. Maître Rogeau points out that no buy out offer of the Prost Grand Prix production unit was delivered before the expiration of the deadline and he wishes to confirm that the Commercial Court of Versailles received a proposal for a partial offer dealing with:

1 - the acquisition of the AP04 and AP05 chassis intellectual property
2 - the acquisition of the AP05 pieces and elements
3 - the acquisition of the rights related to the Concorde Agreement
4 - the hiring of some AP04 chassis elements and related parts

The Commercial Court of Versailles, by judgment given on February, 28th at 3:10pm Paris time, ordained the assignment of the above- mentioned elements and the transfer of property to the company PHOENIX FINANCE Ltd, represented by Mr Charles J. Nickerson.

The adjustment of the legal acts is in the process of being finalized and Rougeau now wishes to draw attention to the fact that this is not in any case an assignment of the Prost Grand Prix company. He also indicates that the working plant elements will be auctioned in the coming weeks, in accordance with the order of the “Juge Commissaire” edicted on February 19th 2002.

He also confirmed that the name “Prost Grand Prix" is not included in the assignment and finally, reminds the fact that he is still looking for bidders for the acquisition of the Guyancourt facilities and the Magny-Cours windtunnel.

Dit is iets duidelijker. Toch vind ik de omstandigheden waarin de verkoop plaatsvindt vrij duister. Vooral het belachelijke bedrag van de aankoop 3 miljoen €.

airco