Goldman spins the door

Goldman Sachs knows the value of public service. The bank’s alumni have held – or hold – many of the top posts in global finance.

The elite includes mark Carney at the Bank of England, mario draghi at the European Central Bank (both soon to step down) and Steven mnuchin at the US Treasury.

moving in the opposite direction is Britain’s top Brexit negotiator, the soon-to-beknighted olly Robbins.

others making the same journey into Goldman include former president of the European Commission, Jose manuel Barroso, and President Trump’s former deputy national security adviser, dina Powell.

It might have been thought that Goldman was too toxic at present, given the £5.4bn 1mdB scandal in malaysia which has caused it serious problems in the middle East, notably in winning work in abu dhabi and Qatar. other investment banks have been picking up mandates.

But Goldman has an old habit of dusting itself down and recovering from past troubled episodes, as when it assisted Greece in disguising debt from the EU at the time of joining the euro, and its two-faced role on mortgage securities in the financial crisis. as Britain eventually exits the EU, Robbins should be able to offer invaluable advice.

all those hours locked in with EU negotiators will have given him an invaluable contacts book which can be used to good effect as Goldman moves some services from london to the Continent.

Just how useful is being demonstrated by the Saudi aramco oil listing which promises to be the biggest in financial history.

Goldman chief david Solomon was the first senior investment banker to visit Riyadh after the damaging murder of government critic Jamal Khashoggi.

That opening paved the way for some intense lobbying by former Trump adviser Powell and london-based international banking honcho Richard Gnodde. The intense schmoozing looks to be working, and Bloomberg reports that in spite of the 1mdB fallout (including malaysian charges against Gnodde) Goldman has moved into pole position on the Saudi aramco float.

Powell, who works with sovereign wealth funds in the region, has been instrumental in winning friends in the kingdom. Goldman advised Saudi Basic Industries on its $69bn sale to aramco.

It is widely expected that when a small percentage of Saudi aramco is listed in Saudi in 2020, placing a value of £1.7bn on the group, it will follow up with an international secondary listing. london and new York have been vying for the quote, with andrew Bailey at the Financial Conduct authority taking flak for stretching rules.

With Gnodde a central player and Robbins on board, the london Stock Exchange must still be in with a shout.

Fly-by

PhEW! I was starting to worry that the vocal campaign by lady Cobham and others against the £4bn takeover of Cobham would never catch on with shareholders.

The premium offered in the 165p-pershare cash deal always was going to be attractive to those investors who have stuck with Cobham through thick and thin. national security and industrial strategy arguments against it are potent.

Would-be buyer advent has a better record than some private equity outfits in investing in its prey, but loading the aerospace pioneer up with debt would be daft.

Sanderson is the first big battalion investor to come off the fence against a deal. much more important will be the votes of the biggest shareholder, Silchester, which has had doubts from the off on the price.

Cobham did itself no favours by agreeing the bid so quickly without an open process. If recent corporate actions (such as Unilever’s proposed move to Rotterdam) are any guide, then once the first rejection goes public others swing in behind.

With less than a week to go and a 75pc majority required, this deal is far from done and dusted.

Maxing out

Jd SPoRTS, where the Rubin family’s Pentland Group is the majority shareholder, has demonstrated again that the high Street is still fit for purpose.

By focusing on athletic wear for younger shoppers, it achieved a 47pc rise in sales and a big uplift in first-half profits.

Jd has expanded cautiously by adding brands it understands.

Eat your heart out mike ashley.