Morrisons suitor Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is expected to clarify its intentions for the supermarket as soon as in the next ten days – a move widely expected in the City to be confirmation of a formal £5.5billion approach.
The Mail on Sunday understands there are rival investment firms that will not trigger active engagement until CD&R reveals its intentions. Lone Star, Apollo, KKR and Amazon have all been listed as potentially interested.
Sources said several major private equity firms are monitoring CD&R s position with a number working very informally and at a very early stage on their own potential proposals.
When Augmentum Fintech listed on the stock market in March 2018, chief executive and founder Tim Levene found it hard to persuade big City institutions to back the business.
The idea, Levene explained back then, was to build a company that invested in fast-growing financial technology firms and reap the rewards as these acorns developed into oaks. The flotation eventually got away, raising £90million – less than Levene had hoped for – at £1 a share.
Midas recommended the stock from the start and investors who subscribed to the flotation are glad that they did. The shares have risen to £1.40 and the business has grown rapidly.
Freedom Day may be coming later than some hoped, but if we can throw off all Covid restrictions on July 19, how can we ensure our investments celebrate along with us?
Susannah Streeter, at wealth manager Hargreaves Lansdown, says: There has been a slow but steady recovery among the worst hit sectors such as hospitality, travel and retail. But many of the share prices of affected companies remain subdued compared with pre-pandemic levels.
Date in the diary: Companies that rely on getting big numbers of people together all face an uncertain future on the stock market Some of the worst affected companies have gone cap in hand to shareholders with calls for more money, diluting investors shareholdings and pushing down share prices, while the prospects continue to be uncertain.