* Malaysia's Weststar agrees LDV deal - source
* UK agrees to offer bridging loan of up to 5 mln pounds
* Government hopes deal will avoid administration
(Adds comment from LDV spokesman in paragraph 9)
By Keith Weir
LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) - Malaysian vehicle importer
Weststar has agreed to a deal to rescue British van maker LDV,
an industry source said, and the British government said it
would offer a bridging loan to help the plan go ahead.
A government spokesman said he hoped the agreement would
prevent LDV from going into administration, although that would
be a matter for talks between LDV and the administrator,
PricewaterhouseCoopers.
LDV, owned by Russian carmaker GAZ (GAZA.RTS), said last
week that it planned to file for administration on May 6.
LDV employs 850 people in the English city of Birmingham
and its collapse could threaten thousands of jobs in
distribution and supplier networks.
"A deal to put the company into the hands of Weststar has
been agreed," an industry source said, adding that there was a
"short-term issue with injecting funds" in time to prevent the
company from going into administration on Wednesday.
Britain's Department of Business, Enterprise & Regulatory
Reform said later that the government was prepared to grant a
bridging loan of up to 5 million pounds ($7.55 million) until
Weststar had completed due diligence on LDV.
"Weststar's proposed purchase of LDV offers the only
credible chance of keeping this manufacturing plant in the UK,"
Business Minister Ian Pearson said in a statement.
"Whilst completion of the deal is not certain, it would
have been irresponsible of the government not to support it
going forward. But this is a one-off bridging loan, and it
cannot be extended," he said.
Guy Jones, spokesman for LDV, later told Sky News
television: "For us, it is positive news."
He said the company was confident it was well-placed to
return to production.
The van maker has been badly hit by recession in Britain
and suspended production late last year.
LDV announced a partnership with Weststar in 2007 under
which Weststar assembles and markets LDV's MAXUS vans in 20
countries in Asia and the Middle East.
The British government has said repeatedly that any further
funding for LDV should come from GAZ, Russia's second largest
car producer, which is controlled by entrepreneur Oleg
Deripaska and has been hard hit by a slump in domestic sales.
LDV last month asked the government for a bridging loan
before a planned management buyout (MBO) which would have been
led by GAZ chairman Erik Eberhardson.
"I am very pleased that a deal has been put in place after
the intensive discussions over the weekend," Eberhardson said
in a statement.
"It is now vital to avoid administration so that Weststar
and LDV have the best start for the future of the business."
The management buyout had planned to relaunch the company
as a specialist in electric vehicles.
($1=.6626 Pound)
(Editing by Greg Mahlich and Matthew Lewis)
