LONDON: Irish businessman Sir Gerry Robinson abandoned his bid to take control of Rentokil Initial Plc, the world's largest pest-control company, through the back door, after his talks with the company's shareholders failed Friday.
Sir Gerry, 56, who worked through his company Raphoe Management Ltd. to displace the current management and have him installed as the executive chairman, said in a statement the talks with the shareholders had broken down.
Raphoe had said on 8 September that it would allow Sir Gerry to become full-time executive chairman of East Grinstead-based Rentokil Initial for three to five years, and in exchange it would receive up to 46.3 million Rentokil shares, or about 2.55 per cent holding, over three years. The proposal was in the form of a 55 million-pound pay deal for Sir Gerry over three years. He would ensure to reverse the four-year earnings slide at the company and to return more than 600 million pounds to investors if allowed to run the company. Rentokil Initial's new chief executive Doug Flynn, who himself has charted a recovery course for the company, felt there is no role for Sir Gerry.
Sir Gerry had the backing from Rentokil Initial's largest investor, the U.S. fund management firm Franklin Resources Inc. Though he had threatened a full-fledged take-over bid for the company, analysts felt, the shrewd businessman he is, he would not just be spending around 3 billion pounds for the ailing company.
Sir Gerry, a former chairman of Allied Domecq, before it was taken over by Pernod Ricard SA, had gained fame for his successful acquisition of hotel group Forte in 1996, when he was chief executive of television group Granada. He had also anchored a popular TV show, "I'll Show Them Who's Boss", offering management advice to businesses.
In his statement, he apologised to the employees of Rentokil for causing "an unsettling time" for them.
Posted
on : Sat, 22 Oct 2005 09:25 GMT | General News
By : Anne Philips
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