Second wave of raises set to roll in as firms tap investors again
THE tsunami of corporate fundraisers at the start of the Covid crisis may have slowed, but City Spy hears of a more welcome second wave. City bankers and brokers think some firms that raised modest sums in lockdown’s early days may have to return cap (and mask) in hand to investors. “Some companies were initially quite confident the situation would return to normally quickly, but have reassessed that and realised they need more cash,” says our man in the pinstripes (and trackie bottoms). Rumour is companies in the pubs and restaurant sector are gauging interest, with The Restaurant Group — which raised £57 million in April advised by JP Morgan — apparently among them. TRG declined to comment. But, with investor fatigue and summer holidays setting in, will shareholders have the appetite to stomach the City’s Invest In to Help Out effort?
MUCH cheer for retailers yesterday as malls landlord Hammerson pledged to be more cuddly and flexible on rent payments. But how about its stand-off with Debenhams, which blocked the landlord’s attempts to hand two of its shops, in Birmingham and Glasgow, to Next to become beauty stores? “I’m not interested in getting into a public spat,” says boss David Atkins. Shame.
FOR workers struggling to think of a good reason to come into the office, some inspiration from Serco chief Rupert Soames. The boisterous outsourcing chief famously has a contraption he dubs the “shit-o-meter” (a toilet brush which he pulls out when the company is in the doo-doo) in his office. “That’s why I had to come back to my desk for the first time in four months. Just to give my shit-ometer a cuddle. Its bristles are all bristly and it’s feeling pretty good about life.” How pleasant.
RELATIONS between suppliers and supermarkets are notoriously testy, and Spy hears word of a newish strategy being used by smaller firms in lockdown which will get retailers hot under the colour. With the sudden boom in demand for online box deliveries, and boozing at home, some drinks companies are keen to cash in and sell direct to shoppers. The only snag: the supermarkets (and the empty pubs) that they usually serve won’t be too happy they’re being cut out. The solution: ale purveyors are changing the name of their beer online and setting up a separate website.
Cheers!