Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana are reputed to have had bid offers refused. Apax and Cerberus are among the private equity houses which have been talking to the company. A proposed flotation of Versace had to be pulled in 1997 because Allegra’s shares were held in trust. Investment banks Lazards and CSFB have been tasked with reducing Versace’s borrowings. “As the major shareholder, Allegra has to be interested in fashion,” he said. “She votes, she drives a car, so she can sign contracts herself.”She is worth around €140m.

She is said to have been upset on discovering, at the age of 11, that Gianni gave her half his estate – a gesture provoked, it is surmised, partly by the tensions between Donatella and Santo.Santo insisted that Allegra’s majority will enable Versace to move forward. Neither fashion nor business are reputed to be her first love and Allegra aims to study drama in the US, hoping for a film career. Versace shareholders meet in Milan tomorrow to consider last year’s results. It is likely to be a sombre family affair – under Donatella Versace, its chief designer, and her brother, finance director Santo Versace, sales are believed to have plunged from €483m (£325m) to €400m, with Versace’s pre-tax loss doubling to an estimated €20m, according to industry analysts. Arcadia, the company controlled by Philip Green, which includes Top Shop and Burton stores, is GE’s longest-standing customer.In its report to the Commission, Arcadia says that there is sufficient competition and retailers can switch suppliers without incurring large costs.. But in a report sent to the Commission, Harrods says that the length of the contract is “likely to operate as a further barrier to competition”.Harrods’ view is in stark contrast to those of most other retailers offering store cards through GE. GE Capital controls over 50 per cent of the market and supplies to retailers such as Arcadia, Debenhams and Comet.GE also operates the Harrods store card, which has an APR of 28.9 per cent Harrods entered into a 15-year contract with GE in 1991.

Harrods has broken ranks with the rest of the retail sector by hitting out at the “limited competition” in the store card market. The former Scots Guard is a friend of ex-SAS officer Simon Mann, who isin a Zimbabwean jail accused of plotting a coup in Equatorial Guinea.. This was considered to be in contravention of a UN arms embargo, though it had been arranged with the apparent help of the Foreign Office.The then Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, distanced himself from Sandline’s operation.Lt-Col Spicer and his men were arrested in Papua New Guinea in 1996. However, the DoD is still investigating DynCorp’s complaint.In the 1990s, Lt-Col Spicer was part of Sandline, a British company contracted to supply the Sierra Leone government in exile of Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with military advisers and 30 tons of weapons.

A spokeswoman for Aegis said that this was lifted on Friday evening. The site says the dispute will be resolved before 20 September. The basis of the protest is unclear.A spokesman for DynCorp said: “I can [only] confirm that we protested the contract award.” Aegis would not comment.When the complaint was lodged more than a week ago, the DoD issued a so-called “stay” notice, which put the contract on hold. “Their job is to disseminate information and provide guidance and co-ordination throughout the four regions of Iraq,” he said.The contract was placed by the US-run project management office of the Coalition Provisional Authority and will be paid for by the US Department of Defence (DoD).DynCorp’s protest is registered on the General Accounting Office website. Major Gary Tallman, a spokesman for the US Army, said that part of the contract is to create a co-ordination hub for the security operation for every reconstruction contractor and sub-contractor. A US security firm has challenged the $290m (£158m) Iraq contract awarded to Aegis Defence Services, a British firm run by Lieutenant-Colonel Tim Spicer, who was at the heart of the Sandline “Arms to Africa” scandal.
The placing of the contract with the small company took the security industry, and particularly DynCorp, by surprise three weeks ago.Aegis beat DynCorp to the contract to provide 75, eight-man, close-protection teams for three years and to co-ordinate intelligence to a range of security contractors.