Press Release

BIRMINGHAM, UK (June 11, 2003) - Anyone anywhere in the world with access to a PC will be able to bid for the assets of the Arrows Formula 1 team when a simultaneous on-site, telephone and Webcast auction, organised by accountants and business advisors PKF, is held at the team’s Oxfordshire premises on June 18 and 19.

Earlier last year the Arrows F1 team, run by Arrows Grand Prix International Ltd, employed some 300 staff at Leafield Technical Centre. When receivers Brian Hamblin and Philip Long of PKF were appointed late in December, the last 250 staff had been made redundant.

Now the modern premises at Leafield, near Witney, Oxfordshire, stand silent save for the occasional clatter or clang as the cataloguing of all the assets by members of worldwide auctioneers Dovebid-Bache continues in preparation for the auction.

The first day of the auction is likely to include all the engineering equipment required to produce race cars for the 12 chassis that are either completed or part assembled. Almost every piece of the Arrows Formula 1 car was handmade on-site to the finest tolerances on the best engineering and manufacturing equipment that money could buy.

The second day will see the cars, parts and bodywork come under the hammer. There are a number of completed cars, some with engines and some without.

There are also three seaters which were especially prepared for corporate hospitality in the multi-million pound world that is F1 racing and sponsorship.

The sale is being carried around the world over the Internet via DoveBid Live, the proprietary Webcast technology that enables bidders all over the world to bid at an auction from the convenience of their own home or office through the internet.

Webcast technology enables interested parties to bid against bidders who are on the factory floor at the live auction, saving time and travel expenses.

Auctioneers Peter Bache, Chris Hall and Jason Hall will be working in shifts to offer for sale the hundreds of lots that will be passing under the hammer.

DoveBid Bache is the UK arm of DoveBid, the worldwide leader in capital asset auctions and valuations which has its headquarters in Foster City, California, USA, with over 40 locations in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

The company was responsible for the two day auction of Enron’s assets, with the Webcast of that event attracting some 14,000 online viewers.

Arrows missed the final five races of the last Grand Prix season because of disputes with suppliers. The final straw was a winding up petition from former driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

Accountants and business advisors PKF, a top ten UK firm, have previous experience of motorsport having acted as liquidators in the insolvency of former F1 driver Alain Prost’s UK assets.

Joint receivers Brian Hamblin and Philip Long of PKF attempted to sell the company as a going concern, advertising in the Financial Times the complete F1 facility as a manufacturing, research and development enterprise, but were unable to find a buyer. A wind tunnel in Bedford is also for sale.

To learn more about the Arrows auction, go to www.dovebid.com or call Peter Bache at DoveBid-Bache’s Birmingham office on 0121 212 0005.

For further information:
Brian Hamblin, PKF – 0121 212 2222 – mobile – 07957 844239.
Partner, PKF, New Guild House, 45 Great Charles Street, Queensway, Birmingham B3 2LX

Prepared and issued by Andy Skinner of Marketing Management – 01527 892004, or mobile – 07790 978257.

About PKF
1. PKF is one of the UK's leading firm's of accountants and business advisors and specialises in advising the management of developing private and public businesses. The firm has more than 1,500 partners and staff operating in over 25 offices around the country. Principal services include assurance and advisory; consultancy; corporate finance; corporate recovery and insolvency; forensic; and taxation. The firm has particular expertise in advising sectors such as small and medium sized companies; charities; hotels and leisure; medical; professional partnerships; public sector; and technology. The firm’s web site is www.pkf.co.uk.

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