Mike Ashley: make me Debenhams (DEB) CEO and I’ll back £150m rescue. Sports Direct boss seeks to prevent lender takeover that would wipe out his stake. Mike Ashley has offered to underwrite a £150m shareholder rescue fundraising for Debenhams if the ailing department store chain agrees to make him chief executive. The offer is the Sports Direct boss’s latest attempt to prevent Debenhams being taken over by its lenders and wiping out his group’s near 30% stake, which he spent about £150m building. Debenhams set Ashley a deadline of Monday night to make a bid for the company, put in new funds or see lenders take control of the department store’s equity via a pre-pack administration deal. The latest offer from Ashley could give him a majority stake in Debenhams if other investors do not participate in the rescue rights issue. The deal would be structured so that stores would continue to trade without affecting shoppers or suppliers but shareholders’ stakes would be rendered worthless.
Persimmon (PSN) launches review in drive to rebuild its image. Most profitable housebuilder in UK has been beset by a pay scandal and quality complaints. The UK’s most profitable housebuilder, Persimmon, is launching an independent review of its customer care, culture and the quality of its work as it attempts to move on from an executive pay scandal and complaints over its new-build homes. The review, to be led by an independent chair, Stephanie Barwise QC of Atkin Chambers, will look into Persimmon’s customer care approach, systems and culture, quality assurance processes, and the speed and consistency of its response to issues. It said the findings would be published by the last quarter of 2019.
