One of the country’s biggest property investment families has called the bottom of the shopping centre slump after spending almost £23 million on two struggling properties. The Oglesbys, who are worth an estimated £667 million and control more than £1 billion of properties, say that the slide in retail values has reached its nadir and the asset class now represents a big opportunity. Bruntwood, the Oglsebys’ company, which is based in Manchester, bought Stretford Mall and the Stamford Quarter in Trafford in a 50:50 joint venture with Trafford council. Each invested £22.5 million in the centres and adjacent land suitable for development.
Compass Group (CPG) is set to launch the search for a new chairman as Paul Walsh prepares to leave the contract catering business earlier than some had expected. Mr Walsh has chaired the £30 billion business for six years. Directors of Compass are expected to consider internal and external candidates to succeed him, according to Sky News. Many had believed that Mr Walsh, 64, would stay on until 2023.
The joint chief executives of Numis Corporation (NUM) are set to become the highest-paid bosses on London’s junior market AIM after the midmarket stockbroker revealed their bumper share awards. Ross Mitchinson and Alex Ham could each receive shares worth about £9 million next autumn after hitting targets disclosed in the company’s annual report. It comes despite a bumpy year for the Aim-listed broker, which endured a slump in flotations and thin equity trading volumes amid tough market conditions, suppressing its profits by more than half.
Takeaway.com is set to clinch a £6 billion acquisition of Just Eat (JE.) this week after seeing off a rival suitor for the food delivery group. The Dutch operator declared just before Christmas that its all-paper offer had received acceptances from investors speaking for 46.07 per cent of Just Eat’s shares and it is poised to pass the 50% target in the next few days. Shareholders of Just Eat have until Friday to vote either for Takeaway.com’s recommended bid or an 800p-a-share cash offer from Naspers, the South African tech investor bidding through its Dutch subsidiary Prosus. While Prosus’s offer remains open, it effectively threw in the towel on December 20 when it scrapped plans to make market purchases of Just Eat shares in support of its cash offer. The last acceptance level it disclosed was less than 1%.
An activist shareholder has increased the pressure on Stock Spirits Group (STCK) after the vodka maker dismissed its proposal for a special dividend. Western Gate Private Investments accused the Stock Spirits board of arrogance after it said that it could legally disregard a vote in favour of the special resolution. Western Gate represents the family office of Luís Amaral, a Portuguese businessman with a 10 per cent stake in Stock Spirits, which is listed in London. It had urged fellow investors to vote in favour of a special dividend at the company’s annual meeting on Thursday and accused the board of being “unwilling to return cash to patient investors”.
