The dastardly My Deedes
After hammerson made a £3.4bn swoop for shopping centre rival Intu, David Atkins was telling anyone who’d listen he was pioneering the deal. Now hammerson’s subject to a more pressing £5bn counterbid from French firm Klepierre, vastly experienced chairman David Tyler (Sainsbury’s, 3i) is doing all the talking. Do we suspect Tyler, not Atkins, wears the trousers? Explaining his cautionary investment philosophy, Credit Suisse boss Tidjane Thiam describes himself as the ‘antiWenger’, a reference to perennially optimistic Arsenal football manager Arsene Wenger. He says: ‘Wenger forever believes you can win games with 19-yearolds who play in midfield, and no defence and no forward.’ £7m-a-year Tidjane, 55, is an Arsenal season ticket holder (cost £1,000-£2,000 a season) but has refused to watch a game since 2011 in silent protest. Security at Goldman Sachs’ Manhattan offices rivals Fort Knox. According to Institutional Investor, the £1.5bn building ‘ could stand up to basement, gradelevel, and airborne threats’. The exterior is shielded by 11ft-high guard posts, bollards and barriers, plus a guarantee of a ‘virtually instantaneous police response’. Inside, uniformed NYPD officers are paid to work there while off-duty. Security guards, apparently, ‘appear out of nowhere’. All sounds a bit de trop, but that’s Americans for you. Billionaire US hedge funder John Paulson, who’s struggled since banking $5bn betting against the housing market in 2008, faces a stonking $1bn tax bill. Unlike the toothless herberts at HMRC, America’s tax authorities don’t dilly-dally when it’s time to pay up. Copper-toned Paulson, 62, will hope his early support for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign at least buys him some breathing space. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets Theresa May in London next week. All’s not well a la maison Trudeau. Recent trips to China and India have been disastrous. his Liberal party is floundering in the polls. Meanwhile, voters are weary of his tiresome dressing up. Should voters oust Trudeau, 46, in October 2019, might Liberals turn to a grown-up? Bank of england governor Mark Carney will by then be footloose and fancy-free.