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A constant complaint, often heard, is the lack of prominent figures and the close battles that once dominated the city.
People like Mrs Thatcher’s favorites Lord Hanson and Lord King of BA, and the politically savvy Lord Weinstock are no more.
Most takeovers are bloodless affairs with meek boards, such as that of Royal Mail owner International Distribution Services, hiding behind fiduciary duty rather than repelling marauders.
It’s refreshing to see adventurous entrepreneurs straying from the script. Frasers (Sports Direct) founder Mike Ashley may have stepped away from top-flight action, but his ambition knows no bounds.
Lawsuits: Frasers founder Mike Ashley (pictured) is deploying his 28% stake in fast fashion retailer Boohoo to try to oust chief executive Mahmud Kamani.
He is already embroiled in a dispute with Malaysian tycoon Ong Beng Seng over control of the British luxury leather company Mulberry.
Now Ashley is deploying his 28 per cent stake in troubled online fast fashion retailer Boohoo to try to oust chief executive Mahmud Kamani.
He is following the example of the American activist Elliott, who has just organized a triumphant coup on the American airline Southwest Airlines. The Frasers boss has launched a fight to oust Kamani and inject himself and colleague Mike Lennon onto the board.
You have chosen an easy target. Since the pandemic, Boohoo has been on a downward trajectory. Recent half-year results were disappointing, governance remains disappointing and the UK supply chain is still not fully reformed.
Ashley wants to fill the board seat at the annual meeting in December and at a special meeting afterward to put Kamani in touch.
It’s good to see that Ashley, which has faced its own governance and employment challenges, is still up for battle.
It is clearly keen to regain its interest in the Debenhams brand, having lost out to Boohoo when the department store went bust.
Ashley isn’t the only big name coming out of the shadows.
Nat Rothschild, heir to the famous family nobility, aims to create a new electronics empire through his vehicle Volex, which has been rejected twice in its effort to take control of TT Electronics with a bid of 249 million pounds sterling.
Rothschild is turning hostile and appealing to TT investors, led by Fidelity, Blackrock and Aberdeen, to urge the board to accept the Volex deal. Normally, one would expect a Rothschild to be a winner.
But Nat has form: he and co-investors in Indonesian coal company Bumi ended up with bloody noses a decade ago. Some investors have fantastic memories.
Maelstrom
The problems of IDS, owner of Royal Mail, increase. It is the latest major employer to reveal it is expected to be hit by Labour’s employment tax, with a potential bill of £120m.
The biggest problem for Royal Mail is the result of a review by Ofcom to restart the universal service obligation.
It requires the postal service to deliver letters at the same price nationwide six days a week.
There are signs that Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds will give the green light to Daniel Kretinsky’s £3.6bn (£5.6bn including debt) bid following a national security and investment review.
The biggest issue for shareholders is the Ofcom investigation.
If, following market testing, the regulator allows a premium six-day first-class delivery service, priced even higher than the current 1.65p, and a limited second-class service, then the economics could change radically. .
Kretinsky can offer unions ironclad wages and job guarantees because he sees an opportunity to make easy profits from a disappointing, debt-fueled offer.
Shareholders should replace chairman Keith Williams and tell the ‘Czech Sphinx’ to take a trip.
wrong foot
Shares in JD Sports sank 15.5 per cent to a two-year low after it cut its 2024 profit forecast to just under £1bn.
But when you walk the streets of London and other cities around the world, it’s hard not to think that the company, which owns the rights to the Nike and Adidas sneaker brands, is in the right place.
Unlike other shrinking violets in the UK, JD is daring to expand organically and through acquisitions with its latest French rival Courir. That shows a rare ambition.
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