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I'm in: Peter 'Dragons' Den' Jones launches bid to buy out Expansys

Goes on share-buying frenzy at etailer

Dragons' Den star Peter Jones has launched a £6.1m takeover bid of his electronics retail firm Expansys.

The entrepreneur made his move after increasing his share ownership in the AIM-listed firm from 41.4 percent to more than 50 per cent.

Jones bought some 110.3 million shares to become the majority owner.

This means that Jones will now have to launch a full takeover bid, paying 0.55 pence a share for the firm, which is valued at £6.1m.

In a statement, Expansys said: "The independent directors of Expansys... note the announcement this afternoon by Peter Jones, a Non-Executive Director of Expansys, relating to his purchase of additional ordinary shares in Expansys... and, as a consequence, the requirement for him to make a mandatory offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Expansys.

"Under the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers, Peter Jones is obliged to make the mandatory offer in cash."

Expansys started as one the UK's new wave of etailers in 1999 selling cables and PDAs, which didn't used to stand for public displays of affection*.

It floated on the AIM exchange in 2007.

However, the firm slipped into the red last year, following profit warnings.

The Dragons' Den star angered staff in the summer of 2011 after demanding they make a 268-mile round trip commute to work every day: he had moved the Expansys office from Manchester to Marlow, where some of his other businesses reside, in a building that he owns.

Peter Jones' other assets include the firm that makes the rather yummy Reggae Reggae sauce.

He was recently ridiculed for fitting his car with a personalised numberplate featuring the letters "SOB" - which generally stands for son of a bitch. ®

* What are you, 12? They were personal digital assistants...

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