Morrisons needs a Stuart Rose. Chairman Andy Higginson and the board allowed themselves to be sweet-talked into accepting the bid from Softbank and Koch Retail-backed Fortress with loose commitments to maintain Ken Morrison’s legacy.
Instead, they could have repelled the swarming private equity bidders and made the case for the Bradford-based supermarket group to go it alone.
As fine and dandy as that may be, Higginson and chief executive David Potts (both Tesco exiles) decided that public to private is inevitable, and the best way to sell it to the critics is to sugar the pill.
Meek: The Morrisons board could have repelled the swarming private equity bidders and made the case for the Bradford-based supermarket group to go it alone