1 General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. are now going head to head in the markets for shares of Jaguar PLC, as GM got early clearance from the Federal Trade Commission to boost its stake in the British luxury car maker.
2 GM confirmed Friday that it received permission late Thursday from U.S. antitrust regulators to increase its Jaguar holdings past the $15 million level.
3 Ford got a similar go-ahead earlier in October, and on Friday, Jaguar announced that the No. 2 U.S. auto maker had raised its stake to 13.2%, or 24.2 million shares, from 12.4% earlier in the week.
4 A spokesman for GM, the No. 1 auto maker, declined to say how many Jaguar shares that company owns.
5 In late trading Friday, Jaguar shares bucked the downward tide in London's stock market and rose five pence to 725 pence ($11.44).
6 Trading volume was a moderately heavy 3.1 million shares.
7 In the U.S., Jaguar's American depositary receipts were among the most active issues Friday in national over-the-counter trading where they closed at $11.625 each, up 62.5 cents.
8 Analysts expect that the two U.S. auto giants will move quickly to buy up 15% stakes in Jaguar, setting up a potential bidding war for the prestigious Jaguar brand.
9 British government restrictions prevent any single shareholder from going beyond 15% before the end of 1990 without government permission.
10 The British government, which owned Jaguar until 1984, still holds a controlling 'golden share' in the company.
11 With the golden share as protection, Jaguar officials have rebuffed Ford's overtures, and moved instead to forge an alliance with GM. Jaguar officials have indicated they are close to wrapping up a friendly alliance with GM that would preserve Jaguar's independence, but no deal has been announced.
12 Ford, on the other hand, has said it's willing to bid for all of Jaguar, despite the objections of Jaguar chairman Sir John Egan.
13 Analysts continued to speculate late last week that Ford may try to force the issue by calling for a special shareholder's meeting and urging that the government and Jaguar holders remove the barriers to a full bidding contest before December 1990.
14 But a Ford spokeswoman in Dearborn said Friday the company hasn't requested such a meeting yet.
15 Individuals close to the situation believe Ford officials will seek a meeting this week with Sir John to outline their proposal for a full bid.
16 Any discussions with Ford could postpone the Jaguar-GM deal, headed for completion within the next two weeks.
17 The GM agreement is expected to retain Jaguar's independence by involving an eventual 30% stake for the U.S. auto giant as well as joint manufacturing and marketing ventures.
18 Jaguar and GM hope to win Jaguar shareholders approval for the accord partly by structuring it in a way that wouldn't preclude a full Ford bid once the golden share expires. 'There's either a minority {stake} package capable of getting Jaguar shareholder approval or there isn't,' said one knowledgeable individual. 'If there isn't, {the deal} won't be put forward' to shareholders.
19 Union sentiment also could influence shareholder reaction to a Jaguar-GM accord.
20 GM's U.K. unit holds crucial talks today with union officials about its consideration of an Ellesmere Port site for its first major engine plant in Britain.
21 One auto-industry union leader said, 'If they try to build it somewhere else {in Europe} besides the U.K., they are going to be in big trouble' with unionists over any Jaguar deal.

A spokesman for GM , the No . 1 auto maker , declined to say how many Jaguar shares that company owns .
declined
why did he decline?