“I’m a Bolton fan now,” he said.He said the Bolton deal represented a good business opportunity rather than the pursuit of a footballing dream.Burnden Leisure plans to develop into a diverse sports and leisure business. Mr Williams said the plan would be to have football as just one of the activities but the company would initially concentrate on developing amenities at the club’s out-of-town stadium being built just off the M61 motorway at Horwich, Bolton.The deal raises no new money for player transfers. The club’s directors, who own 75 per cent of the equity, will not sell any shares until 1999.. CompuServe, the pioneer computer on-line service widely used in Europe but which has been struggling in the United States, may be about to be gobbled up by its brashly successful rival, America Online.

CompuServe, 80 per cent-owned by the leading US tax accounting firm H&R Block, saw its stock price leap in trading late on Tuesday and again yesterday on industry reports that it was the target of a putative AOL bid.
H&R Block confirmed last night that the two companies were in discussions with a third party regarding a possible business combination involving CompuServe. But it added that there were no assurances that the talks would result in any agreement or transaction.A successful bid by AOL would inevitably attract close scrutiny by US fair-competition regulators. If allowed, such a deal would transform the on-line provider sector, leaving the field essentially to just two industry giants, AOL itself and the smaller Microsoft Network.Shares in CompuServe none the less rose 5 per cent in early trading in New York yesterday after leaping a hefty19 per cent in the previous two trading sessions.H&R Block has made no secret of its desire to spin off the remainder of its holding in CompuServe, which has seen its position as industry leader stolen by AOL. While foreign subscriptions to its service have recently climbed moderately, in the US membership fell to 1.7 million from 1.8 million.By contrast, AOL, based in Virginia, has seen its customer tally soar to 8 million thanks in part to a policy of carpet-bombing America with free software discs to attract new customers. Tactics have extended to handing out software along with the peanuts on domestic air flights.An acquisition of CompuServe could help AOL in two vital regards. While strong in the US, it remains weak abroad and would benefit greatly from absorbing the CompuServe customer base in Europe.A deal would also help AOL overcome widely publicised difficulties in providing enough network capacity to customers.. The war of words at Cowie intensified yesterday when Sir Tom Cowie, the transport group’s founder, life president and 2.8 per cent shareholder, accused the board of “completely lacking any common sense”.

Sir Tom was speaking ahead of next Wednesday’s EGM, called to remove Neil Pykett, the former boss of its car-leasing offshoot, as a director.
Sir Tom also accused chief executive Gordon Hodgson of “wielding too much power”. Mr Pykett’s departure and the earlier exit of Iain Jane from the executive team means that Mr Hodgson is the only one left of the triumvirate who took charge after Sir Tom was forced out as chairman in 1993 at the age of 71.”Hodgson has now surrounded himself with intimidated colleagues,” Sir Tom claims. “Anyone who has the temerity to stand up to him gets the push.” He describes Cowie’s non-executive chairman, Sir James McKinnon, the former gas industry regulator as “Hodgson’s choice”.The row involving 48-year-old Mr Pykett began in October when it became clear he was not the automatic choice to succeed Mr Hodgson, who is now 65.Mr Pykett handed in his resignation, saying he wanted to work out his three-year contract. But he was forced out of his job in February after a row over his wish to sell his shares in the company. Other directors accused him of “gross misconduct.”"What agitates me,” said Sir Tom, “is the long-term need to plan the management succession There is also the effect on the share price of this row. The shares are down 13 per cent despite the record results announced in March.”Officials at Cowie claim Sir Tom is now “out of touch” with the business. Last month shareholders received letters from both Mr Pykett and Sir James McKinnon spelling out their versions of the row”More dirty linen will be washed in public at the EGM,” Sir Tom predicts.