Today was the deadline for Rank and 888 to make a firm offer for William Hill or walk away, 28 days after they announced their interest in a joint bid for the bookmaker. In the end it didn’t come to that.
Rank, the casino and bingo operator, and its online gaming partner pulled out on Thursday after William Hill’s board refused to enter serious talks. The tussle provided some summer fun for the City, but there was a feeling of inevitability about the outcome: the two sides couldn’t even agree on whether the proposed offer of approximately £3bn was fair.
William Hill plausibly argued that the approach was an opportunistic punt after a string of bad results forced the departure of its chief executive. Rank was scheduled to announce its annual results last Thursday, but with the deadline approaching it delayed them until this Tuesday.
Henry Birch, Rank’s chief executive, will no doubt face questions about the rationale for the failed deal, why he thought a racy three-way merger might succeed and what Rank will do next. Rank and 888 argued the combination would create a gambling powerhouse. Now that’s off the table, what will be the next move as bookies and gaming companies jostle for position after mergers struck between Ladbrokes and Gala Coral and Paddy Power and Betfair? Over to you, Henry.
A Brexit briefing from Britain’s ad man in chief
With everyone wondering what the effect of Brexit will be on business and the economy, Wednesday is a perfect time for WPP to post its half-year results. The performance of the world’s biggest advertising company is a reasonable indication of whether its clients are prepared to spend.
But its results will also let loose the chief executive with Britain’s best contacts book, Sir Martin Sorrell. The man who transformed WPP from wire-basket maker into £23bn company has turned himself from smart ad man into commentator on world affairs. Sorrell supported remaining in the EU, and at WPP’s annual meeting in early June he said a vote to leave would have a serious impact on WPP’s business in Europe. He also said Britain risked “sleepwalking into a black hole” if it opted for Brexit.
Britain’s best-paid chief executive (£70m last year) has been fairly quiet since immediately after the vote, when he delivered a scathing assessment of the Remain campaign and its failure to address the concerns of people outside a London bubble. Two months down the line, Sorrell will no doubt have some choice words about the effect on WPP and the company’s clients.
Is McCue a good bet for the Restaurant Group?
There may not be much to say when the Restaurant Group (TRG) reports its first-half results on Friday. The owner of Frankie & Benny’s and other chains abruptly ousted chief executive Danny Breithaupt earlier this month.
Breithaupt’s replacement is to be Andy McCue, the former boss of Paddy Power, but he doesn’t start until 19 September. So it will be left to chairman Debbie Hewitt and finance director Barry Nightingale to present the results.
Hewitt has been with the company since May 2015 but only took over as non-executive chairman in May, while Nightingale joined TRG just two months ago, in mid-June.
To give Hewitt credit, the former RAC executive didn’t waste much time saying goodbye to Breithaupt after sales dipped severely this year. But she will surely face questions about McCue’s qualifications for the job.
A former management consultant, he spent 10 years at Paddy Power, the upstart Irish bookmaker, before leaving in April after its merger with Betfair. No doubt chief executives have transferable skills, but with Frankie & Benny’s, TRG’s biggest business, facing stiff competition and falling footfall at shopping centres – where many of its restaurants are based – does he have the nous to revitalise the chain?
