This is great - I was pretty sure somone would step in. I believe that Mercian has been sold and revived before, at least once. Lately I've been riding my neglected 1981 King of Mercia (snagged for $100 on DC Craigslist a few years ago) and am amazed at what those Guiness swilling Brits were able to do with Reynolds 531 and an archaic brick oven welding technique.