Trouble brewing for Caffe Nero as landlords fight back
Deal to save troubled coffee chain is under threat from a legal challenge as the Issa brothers stir the pot for a takeover
10 January 2021 • 11:59am
At around 9pm on a Sunday late last November, lawyers for the ailing coffee shop chain Caffe Nero received a letter.
Just hours before landlords were set to vote on a rescue deal that would enable Caffe Nero to renegotiate rental costs as it battles headwinds from the coronavirus pandemic, two billionaire brothers from Blackburn put forward an alternative proposal.
In an eleventh-hour intervention, EG Group, the petrol forecourt operator owned by Mohsin and Zuber Issa, expressed an interest in taking control of Caffe Nero and its 650 sites, seizing ownership from its founder and controlling shareholder Gerry Ford, while offering to pay landlords in full for the rent arrears owed to them due to the crisis.
From high street shops to Las Vegas: US giants place bet on British bookmakers
America’s casino owners are scenting the opportunities offered by UK chains following an easing of gambling laws
10 January 2021 • 8:14am
Westminster had plenty of warning that America was coming for Britain’s betting industry. In a last-ditch appeal, Roger Devlin, chairman of William Hill, wrote to Theresa May, cautioning her over the consequences of a crackdown on fixed-odds betting terminals.
Cutting maximum stakes to £2 would be “catastrophic” for the betting industry, he warned the then Prime Minister. “Consolidation within our sector continues and I would also not want to see the impact of a disproportionate. outcome being a factor in the name of William Hill being added to the list of companies now in foreign ownership.”
Press release content from Business Wire. The AP news staff was not involved in its creation.
Blade and Ross Aviation Announce Strategic Alliance
January 8, 2021 GMT
NEW YORK & DENVER (BUSINESS WIRE) Jan 8, 2021
BLADE Urban Air Mobility (“Blade”) and Ross Aviation entered into a strategic alliance to expedite the roll-out of urban air mobility services in the regions where Ross Aviation and Blade operations overlap. In December of 2020, Experience Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: EXPC) agreed to merge with Blade, which will create, following the closing of the merger, the only publicly traded urban air mobility platform in the United States.
Under the strategic alliance, Blade plans to launch a pilot program offering daily helicopter flights between Ross Aviation’s West Terminal at the Westchester County Airport (the “Airport”) and Blade heliport terminals in Manhattan to serve commuters from the Westchester/Connecticut area. In 2019 alone, these commuters took more than 40
Press release content from Business Wire. The AP news staff was not involved in its creation.
Kele, Inc. Acquires Lesman Instrument Company
January 8, 2021 GMT
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (BUSINESS WIRE) Jan 8, 2021
Kele, Inc. (“Kele”), a portfolio company of The Stephens Group, LLC (“The Stephens Group”) and leading value-added distributor of building automation peripherals and controls solutions, announced today that it has acquired Illinois-based Lesman Instrument Company (“Lesman”). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
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Founded in 1962 and based in Bensenville, Illinois, Lesman is a specialty distributor of products used to measure, analyze, control and automate a wide range of industrial processes. Products include various temperature, pressure, level and flow instruments manufactured by industry-leading OEMs. Mike DeLacluyse, President of Lesman, along with the current management team and employees will remain with the company and day-to-day operat