Huge hat tip to Oliver Shah over at The Sunday Times for his scoop about Sir Philip Green putting BHS on the market. Here is a link to Oliver's piece:
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Retail_and_leisure/article1510992.ece
I have to say the timing of Sir Philip's move to offload BHS is truly compelling - it comes just a few days after it emerged Mike Ashley had shuffled the ownership structure of his shareholding in Sports Direct, potentially allowing him to use his massive stake as collateral. I wonder what those two big beasts of the retail world might be up to?
Anyway, moving swiftly on - the other big M&A story of the weekend is the news about British Airways owner IAG submitting a formal raised its offer of EURO 2.50 a share for Aer Lingus, the Irish flag carrier.
It is being widely reported today that the Aer Lingus board is going to recommend IAG's offer, which I have to admit is a bit of a surprise to me.
I thought Aer Lingus would hold out for at least EURO 2.70 - EURO 2.80 a share given (according to my sources) IAG's advisers had previously indicated the airline may submit a third a third formal offer at these levels. Egg on face for me, I guess.
Still, if the Aer Lingus recommends IAG's EURO 2.50 a share offer for the Irish airline, and then a rival comes in with a higher offer, the takeover tussle could get very interesting. Very interesting, indeed.
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