I don't think he said he would not take the ?10m (especially as he has two offers) but that he would be sad to go and see it transformed into flats (wouldn't you if you had dedicated your life to it, even if this is a lot of money?).

If he has two offers at that level and he is saying this, he obviously knows that both are from such companies. I would have thought he is holding out for a similar offer from someone looking to keep it as a going concern, but that will never happen (IMHO), however it is worth a try and getting out the word in the Indy might help as long as he can stall for a while.