Cobham predator cold calls shareholders

THE foreign predator trying to buy a British defence stalwart has been ringing small shareholders ahead of a vote on the deal.

Advent, the US private equity firm circling Cobham, needs 75pc of the votes to secure the £4bn takeover and has been backed by the firm’s board.

But in a move that will be seen as a desperate bid to shore up support, one retail investor with £13,000 of Cobham shares told the Mail a third party agency working for Advent called him last week to ask how he planned to vote. Richard James, a retired former magazine publisher who lives near Cobham’s headquarters in Dorset, said: ‘It was a rather odd phone call asking whether I’d read the documents – I said, no, I hadn’t completely – and had I decided how I was going to vote. I said no, I hadn’t decided yet.’

The 78-year-old, who first bought shares in the Cobham group in the 1980s, has chosen to vote against Advent’s swoop.

He added: ‘I’m against the deal because I’m suspicious why the management would want to sell a company that’s starting to grow again.’ With just nine days before investors cast their ballots, City analyst David Buik said it was a sign the poll was expected to come ‘down to the wire’.

‘People believe it needs far closer scrutiny and critics such as [former Conservative minister and peer] Michael Heseltine will have caught people’s eye,’ he added.

‘I can see why Advent would ring around and see what kind of support it has.’

Advent’s plan to buy Cobham faces mounting opposition from the Cobham founding family, MPs, former ministers and former executives. The firm declined to comment.