Premier Inn owner Whitbread hits out at ‘destructive’ activist investor Hospitality Premier Inn owner Whitbread has hit out at the activist investor seeking a seat on its board, claiming its proposals would be a “complete waste” of time and money. The FTSE 100 hospitality firm wrote to shareholders on Tuesday urging them to reject the plans put forward by Corvex Asset Management, one of the group’s [...]
King’s favourite interior designer hits back at investor pressure Retail The under-fire chairwoman of King Charles’s favourite interior design firm has hit back at the “distracting” investor plot to remove her. Dame Dianne Thompson, chair of London-listed Sanderson Design Group, wrote to shareholders on Monday urging them to slap down a major investor’s “disruptive” attempts to oust her. LBV Asset Management, which owns 12 per [...]
Activist investor accuses The Works chair of working from home – in New Zealand Retail The activist investor locked in a boardroom battle with The Works has accused its chair of switching his residence to New Zealand and dialling in to crucial meetings. Kelso, a London-listed investment fund, is pushing to appoint a director of its choosing to the discount retailer’s board, but The Works has slapped down the move, saying it [...]
Man Group shares surge as assets hit record $253bn July 28, 2026 Shares in Man Group surged on Tuesday morning after the group posted record assets under management and a recovery in performance fees. Shares in the FTSE 250 hedge fund increased six per cent to 318p per share. The stock has rocketed 36.5 per cent since January. Core net revenue hit $853m, while core performance fee [...]
London becomes activist capital of Europe as investors pressure firms over AI plans July 1, 2026 London has become the shareholder activist capital of Europe as boardrooms feel the heat of interventions from outspoken investors. The UK’s capital markets were the subject of a staggering 57 per cent of all European campaign activity in the first half of the year, fresh data has found, crossing the 50 per cent threshold for [...]
AllianzGI chief executive warns of AI ‘socialism’ as investors lean on chatbots June 18, 2026 The chief executive of one of Europe’s largest asset managers has urged investors to avoid being over-reliant on general online chatbots to manage their portfolios, as it increases the risk of losses. Speaking at AllianzGI’s media day in Frankfurt, Tobias Pross, chief executive of AllianzGI, warned that relying on public online models, such as Claude, [...]
Investec shares rise amid takeover speculation June 3, 2026 Investec shares jumped in early Wednesday trading after the South African financial giant became subject to takeover speculation. Shares rose as much as 4.6 per cent before settling at 1.4 per cent, trading at 669.5p, following reports from M&A blog site Betaville that the bank may have attracted takeover interest, with it citing “people following [...]
Iran conflict could cause further decline to M&A, leading tax firm warns June 2, 2026 Merger and acquisition deal activity could see a further hit this financial quarter if the US and Iran do not reach a resolution to the conflict, a leading tax and accountancy firm has warned. The number of domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisition (M&A) transactions involving a change in majority share ownership fell to 352 [...]
Whitbread: Activist investor pushes for sale of FTSE 100 Premier Inn owner May 18, 2026 An activist investor with a major stake in Premier Inn’s owner Whitbread has called for the FTSE 100 firm to put itself up for sale, attacking its “chronic misallocation of capital”. Corvex Management, which owns 11.8m shares – around seven per cent – in Whitbread, has issued a scathing rejection of the firm’s latest cost-saving [...]
Nelson Peltz’s son calls for Intertek to engage with £10bn offer May 12, 2026 Matt Peltz, the son of billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz, has called on FTSE 100 testing firm Intertek to accept the latest £10bn offer by a Swedish private equity firm, as investors clash over whether the board should sell up. The buyout firm submitted its fourth offer on Tuesday morning, which valued shares at £60 [...]