Mitie’s left all at sea after losing naval base battle

THE Deliveroo dustup certainly has seen bankers and fund managers in their pinstripes getting hot under their starched collars.

The venerable moneymover Aberdeen Standard Investments was among the flotation’s leading critics ahead of its stock market listing last week.

Now Aberdeen seems to be going cold on Deliveroo’s rival Just Eat too.

When Just Eat faced a takeover tussle back in 2019, the funds giant was a vocal advocate of the future of the firm, holding a 5.2 per cent stake.

But now, in the aftermath of Just Eat’s merger with Takeaway. com, Aberdeen has been trimming its holding to about 3 per cent.

Has Aberdeen simply lost its appetite for takeaways?

MUCH chuntering in the world of outsourcing after BAE Systems landed lucrative contracts at Portsmouth naval base, as tipped by Stocks to Watch.

The London-listed firm has the £1billion gig for maintaining battleships and docks, alongside US group KBR. Meanwhile, France’s Sodexo will manage jobs such as catering and cleaning at the Royal Navy site.

The latter award is a blow to listed outsourcer Mitie, which was keen on landing the deal, to help keep its share price on its recent, decent run. The Ministry of Defence awards were made under the £5.2 billion Future Maritime Support Programme.

Industry sources are livid that the lengthy tender process, which had fuelled hopes of a shakeup in defence procurement, has left the main contract in the hands of the incumbent, BAE.

With further maritime contracts still to be unveiled under the programme, there could be more choppy waters ahead.

BUYOUT firm Catena is putting the final touches to a reverse takeover of Insight Capital, before renaming itself Insig AI.

AIM-listed Catena will be valued at about £70million after the accompanying share issue, which Stocks to Watch hears will also be open to retail investors through the PrimaryBid platform.

The firm hopes to tap into the investment zeitgeist through an artificial intelligence tool designed to cut through ‘greenwashing’ by company bosses.

The software robot analyses language to study a company’s goals and performance on environmental, social and governance issues to aid asset managers charged with putting funds into progressive companies.

A nifty idea.