around $12,000 a day, a court heard yesterday.

The offer was made to Canadian tycoon Michael DeGroote who was here trying to buy Perot's Island in Riddells Bay.

But Mr. DeGroote rejected the offer.

Mr. DeGroote is battling in court over Perot's Island with another multi-millionaire, American heiress Marion MacMillan. Both are 59.

He says she failed to stick to an 1990 agreement to sell the island for $8.5 million, and wants the court to order the sale plus $4.28 million damages.

She has raised questions over the conduct of legal and real estate advisers, and says the deal was invalid.

Mr. DeGroote is the founder and former boss of Laidlaw, one of Canada's top companies. Mrs. MacMillan's family has an estimated $5 billion fortune from its Cargill grain trading firm.

In tense exchanges with Mrs. MacMillan's lawyer, Mr. Julian Hall, the businessman told how he examined properties in Bermuda to buy or rent.

They included the 200-year-old Wreck Hill estate in Somerset, with a 12-room mansion set in 26 acres, which was bought in by Mr. Stigwood in 1978. The Australian-born mogul produced films like Saturday Night Fever and Grease.

Mr. DeGroote said he regarded Wreck Hill as the only property in Bermuda approaching Perot's Island.

He said Mr. Stigwood did not really want to rent it out. But if someone wanted to pay $300,000 to $400,000 a month, Mr. Stigwood would have considered it.

Mr. DeGroote denied he was not interested in buying Wreck Hill because it was priced at $23 million.

He said the layout of the house did not suit him and it was too far from Hamilton.

"The property was not of interest to me,'' he said. "It had obviously nothing to do with price. I'm not sure I even asked the price.'' The trial has heard the main house on the seven and a half acre Perot's Island was an uninhabitable "mess'' when Mrs. MacMillan bought it in 1987. She carried out substantial improvements.

The 15-room home has around five bedrooms and seven bathrooms. Mr. DeGroote eventually rented a South Shore Warwick home called Everbreeze, which he found "very, very small'' for his requirements. He then bought a house called Misubishi Gold for $6.5 million, renaming it Evergreen.

Mr. DeGroote also has an 11-acre home in Naples, Florida.