Connect with us

Published

on

The investment firm which owns Waterstones has returned with a second offer for Currys, the electrical goods chain, amid investor hopes of a rare bidding war for a London-listed company.

Sky News has learnt that Elliott Advisors has tabled a marginally improved bid that insiders said was highly likely to be rebuffed by Currys’ board.

City sources said on Tuesday that the revised proposal valued Currys at between 65p and 70p-a-share, compared with an initial 62p-a-share bid worth £700m.

One shareholder in Currys questioned Elliott’s logic in submitting an offer of less than 70p after analysts and shareholders suggested that only a range of between 75p and 80 was likely to persuade the company to engage in discussions.

Elliott, which is known for its activist campaigns and investments in prominent assets such as AC Milan, the Serie A football club, has also acquired a string of retail businesses through its private equity investment team.

Both Elliott and Currys declined to comment.

Currys, which traces its roots back to 1884, when Henry Curry set up a bicycle-building business, is now at the centre of a potential bidding war.

More on Retail

JD.com, the Chinese e-commerce giant, said last week that it was at the early stages of considering an offer.

Sky News revealed at the weekend that Amanda Thirsk, a former aide to Prince Andrew, is playing a role in evaluating JD’s interest in Currys.

The Takeover Panel has set a mid-March deadline for both Elliott and JD.com to lodge binding offers for the retailer or walk away.

Currys employs more than 15,000 people in the UK, trading from about 300 stores.

In 2021, the company rebranded under its current name, having absorbed shops operating under brands including PC World, Dixons and Carphone Warehouse.

Now led by chief executive Alex Baldock, Currys has been grappling with the same inflationary headwinds which have afflicted the rest of the retail sector and wider consumer economy.

Last month, it reported a dip in like-for-like sales during the crucial Christmas trading period but was able to announce a modest upgrade to profit forecasts as a result of cost-cutting measures.

The company trades in eight countries, including Denmark, Finland and Sweden under the Elkjop brand.

In total, it employs 28,000 people and operates more than 800 stores.

A chunk of these are in Greece, where it has announced a £175m sale of its operations to the country’s Public Power Corporation.

Shares in Currys were trading modestly higher on Tuesday morning at just over 67p, giving it a market capitalisation of about £756m.

The takeover interest has sparked a rally in Currys’ shares in the last eight days, having been languishing as low as 43p last October.

Elliott’s existing portfolio includes Waterstones, which is run by the prominent books retailer James Daunt.

Last year, it examined offers for Reiss, the fashion retailer, and The Body Shop, which was instead taken over by the financial investor Aurelius and is now in the hands of administrators in the UK.

In Britain, it has recruited the City grandee Sir Mike Rake as a senior adviser in an effort to forge more conciliatory ties with the boards of companies it invests in.

In recent years, it has built stakes in FTSE-350 companies including BHP, the mining giant, drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline, Hammerson, the shopping centre-owner, and Whitbread, the owner of Premier Inn hotels.

At most of them, it has either pushed publicly or behind the scenes for strategic or management changes, and has earned a reputation as one of the most aggressive activist funds in the world.

Elliott Management, the US-based parent, was founded in the 1970s by Paul Singer with just over $1m under management.

It now manages over $55bn, and its London office is run by Mr Singer’s son, Gordon.

Continue Reading

Business

M&S tells agency workers to stay at home after cyberattack

Published

on

By

M&S tells agency workers to stay at home after cyberattack

Marks & Spencer (M&S) has ordered hundreds of agency workers at its main distribution centre to stay at home as it grapples with the unfolding impact of a cyberattack on Britain’s best-known retailer.

Sky News has learnt that roughly 200 people who had been due to undertake shift work at M&S’s vast Castle Donington clothing and homewares logistics centre in the East Midlands have been told not to come in amid the escalating crisis.

Agency staff make up about 20% of Castle Donington’s workforce, according to a source close to M&S.

Money latest: Vet hits back at critics of prices

The retailer’s own employees who work at the site have been told to come in as usual, the source added.

“There is work for them to do,” they said.

M&S disclosed last week that it was suspending online orders as a result of the cyberattack, but has provided few other details about the nature and extent of the incident.

In its latest update to investors, the company said on Friday that its product range was “available to browse online, and our stores remain open and ready to welcome and serve customers”.

“We continue to manage the incident proactively and the M&S team – supported by leading experts – is working extremely hard to restore online operations and continue to serve customers well,” it added.

Read more from Sky News:
Deliveroo shares surge 17% as takeover looms
UK growth could be ‘postponed’ for two years, report warns

It was unclear on Monday how long the disruption to M&S’s e-commerce operations would last, although retail executives said the cyberattack was “extensive” and that it could take the company some time to fully resolve its impact.

Shares in M&S slid a further 2.4% on Monday morning, following a sharp fall last week, as investors reacted to the absence of positive news about the incident.

M&S declined to comment further.

Continue Reading

Business

Deliveroo shares surge 17% as £2.7bn takeover looms

Published

on

By

Deliveroo shares surge 17% as £2.7bn takeover looms

Shares in meal delivery platform Deliveroo have surged by 17% as investors react to news of a £2.7bn takeover proposal.

The company revealed after the market had closed on Friday that it had been in talks since 5 April with US rival DoorDash.

Deliveroo suggested then it was likely the 180p per share offer would be recommended, though full terms were yet to be agreed.

Money latest: Vet hits back at critics of prices

At that price, the company’s founder and chief executive, Will Shu, would be in line for a windfall of more than £170m.

Deliveroo further announced, before trading on Monday, that it had suspended its £100m share buyback programme.

The opening share price reaction took the value to 171p per share – still shy of the 180p on the table – and well under the 390p per share flotation price seen in 2021.

More from Money

Deliveroo’s shares have weakened nearly 50% since their market debut.

The deal is not expected to face regulatory hurdles as it provides DoorDash access to 10 new markets where it currently has no presence.

But a takeover would likely represent a blow to the City of London given the anticipated loss of a tech-focused player.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “If the deal is done at that price, the company will fail to shake off the ‘Floperoo’ tag it was saddled with after its disastrous IPO debut in 2021.

“Even though Deliveroo has finally broken through into profitable territory, the prolonged bout of indigestion around its share price has continued.

“The surge in demand for home deliveries during the pandemic waned just as competition heated up. Deliveroo’s foray into grocery deliveries has helped it turn a profit but it’s still facing fierce rivals.”

She added: “The DoorDash Deliveroo deal will be unappetising for the government which has been trying to boost the number of tech companies listed in London.

“If Deliveroo is purchased it would join a stream of companies leaving the London Stock Exchange, with too few IPOs [initial public offerings] in the pipeline to make up the numbers.”

Continue Reading

Business

US trade deal ‘possible’ but not ‘certain’, says senior minister

Published

on

By

US trade deal 'possible' but not 'certain', says senior minister

A trade deal with the US is “possible” but not “certain”, a senior minister has said as he struck a cautious tone about negotiations with the White House.

Pat McFadden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips there was “a serious level of engagement going on at high levels” to secure a UK-US trade deal.

However, Mr McFadden, a key ally of Sir Keir Starmer, struck a more cautious tone than Chancellor Rachel Reeves on the prospect of a US trade deal, saying: “I think an agreement is possible – I don’t think it’s certain, and I don’t want to say it’s certain, but I think it’s possible.”

He went on to say the government wanted an “agreement in the UK’s interests” and not a “hasty deal”, amid fears from critics that Number 10 could acquiesce a deal that lowers food standards, for example, or changes certain taxes in a bid to persuade Donald Trump to lower some of the tariffs that have been placed on British goods.

Politics latest: UK has ‘recognised all along’ that Russia is aggressor – minister

And asked about the timing of the deal – following recent reports an agreement was imminent – Mr McFadden said: “We’ll keep working with the United States and keep trying to get to an agreement in the coming weeks.”

As well as talks with the US, the UK has also ramped up its efforts with the EU, with suggestions it could include a new EU youth mobility scheme that would allow under-30s from the bloc to live, work and study in the UK and vice versa.

Mr McFadden said he believed the government could “improve upon” the Brexit deal struck by Boris Johnson, saying it had caused “an awful lot of bureaucracy and costs here in the UK”.

He said “first and foremost” on the government’s agenda was securing a food and agriculture and a veterinary agreement, saying it was “such an important area for the UK and an area where we’ve had so much extra cost and bureaucracy because of Brexit”.

He added: “But again, as with the United States, there’s no point in calling the game before it’s done. We’ve still got work to do, and we’re doing that work with our partners in the EU.”

The Cabinet Office minister also rejected suggestions the UK would have to choose between pursuing a trade deal with the US and one with the EU – the latter of which has banned chlorinated chicken in its markets – as has the UK – but which the US has historically wanted.

Read more:
Chancellor Rachel Reeves outlines red lines for US trade deal
Green Party co-leader denies split over trans rights

On the issue of chlorinated chicken, Mr McFadden said the government had “made clear we will not water down animal welfare standards with either party”.

“But I don’t agree that it’s some fundamental choice beyond where we have to pick one trading partner rather than another. I think that’s to misunderstand the nature of the UK economy, and I don’t think would be in our interests to put all our eggs in one basket.”

Also speaking to Trevor Phillips was Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who said the government should be close to closing the deal with the US “because we got very close last time President Trump was in office”.

She also insisted food standards should not be watered down in order to get a deal, saying she did not reach an agreement with Canada when she was in government for that reason.

“What Labour needs to do now is show that they can get a deal that isn’t making concessions, so we can have what we had last month before the trade tariffs, and we need serious people doing this,” she said.

Continue Reading

Trending