The revolving door that is House of Fraser
House of Fraser’s chief executive Nigel Oddy has become the latest member of senior management to resign from the department store giant.
Oddy handed in his notice after less than two years in the hot seat, amid reports of an internal row about the new owner’s reluctance to stump up some cash.
Back in 2014, Chinese firm Sanpower – owned by billionaire Yuan Yafei – purchased the company and had initially been expected to inject around £75mln of capital into the company as part of its turnaround plans.
According to reports, this money has not been forthcoming and it is this broken promise that is claimed to have irked Oddy and his predecessor John King, as well as several others.
House of Fraser recently slumped to its fifth consecutive year of annual losses and its most recent trading update back in September didn’t hint at any signs of that changing either, as it pointed to a “very challenging retail environment”.
Oddy will officially leave his position at some point in the New Year, once his replacement has been found.
The sharks are circling for Lavendon
Lavendon PLC (LON:LVD) saw its share price rise again on Monday after a second company announced it would be making a move to acquire the powered access equipment rental firm.
Private firm Loxam released a statement this morning telling the markets that it was in preliminary takeover talks with Lavendon about a possible cash offer.
Today’s news comes only a week after Belgian firm TVH launched a final £348mln ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ bid.
After having a couple of initial offers turned down by the Lavendon board, TVH went public with an offer of 205p a share to give shareholders the “opportunity to make their own decision”.
If somewhat annoying for the company itself, shareholders have revelled in the interest and speculation, with the stock soaring by more than 70% over the past few weeks.
UK retailers doing the buying, not selling, today
If you thought Cyber Monday extended to customers only, then it would seem you’d be wrong, with two high street stalwarts, JD Sports Fashion PLC (LON:JD.) and Dunelm Group PLC (LON:DNLM), both adding to their portfolios.
Home furnishings specialist Dunelm snapped up online garden and home retailer WS Group for £8.5mln as it looks to more than double it looks to boost its internet offering.
Leicestershire-based Dunelm told investors that it hopes the acquisition will more than double its current online operations as it tries to keep up with ever-changing customer buying habits.
Meanwhile, sportswear store JD added to its outdoor business with the acquisition of Go Outdoors.
JD – which already owns the likes of Millets and Blacks – will pay £112.5mln for its new purchase as well as assuming around £16mln worth of Go Outdoors’ debt.