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Fender up for Sale 10.06.04 (BBCNews24) close X $500m to pluck Fender Jill Treanor Thursday June 10, 2004 The Guardian Rock fans with a cool $500m (£300m) to spare could soon be offered the chance to snap up Fender, the iconic guitar company. Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, the company is thought to have been put up for sale by venture capitalists Weston Presidio, which bought into the business 20 years ago. Investment bank Goldman Sachs is believed to be drawing up sale particulars for the firm, which was founded in 1946 by Leo Fender. He created the first instrument amplifiers with built-in tone controls, solving the problem of speakers generating feedback when played at high levels. Mr Fender sold out in 1965 to CBS, which in turn sold the business on to the venture capitalists in 1985 through a management buy-out by the new chairman William Schultz. City sources believe the company will be put up for auction to rival private investment firms. They believe that any successful bidder will have to stump up as much as $500m. The Fender has proved to be the instrument of choice for professional guitarists, notably Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, and is also thought to be favoured by Tony Blair, an amateur rock musician in his university days.

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