Developer set to transform London’s Blitz tunnels into tourist attraction has floated firm in Europe in major u-turn
A DEVELOPER that wants to turn London’s underground Blitz shelters into a tourist attraction has decided to list in Amsterdam.
London Tunnels yesterday dealt a blow to the City with its plans to raise £30million in a £130million flotation on Euronext.
This is despite the company saying in January that it would list in London. It is all the more outrageous as its only assets are London’s tunnels.
There are growing concerns about the shrinking number of companies choosing to float in the capital and an exodus of firms listing overseas.
Insiders said London Tunnels’ management had been courted by global investment banks including Netherlands-based ABN Amro after going public with plans to list.
They claimed that no big London investment bank pitched for them.
ABN Amro worked on the recent successful float of private equity firm CVC Capital Partners.
Another source suggested London Tunnels had been told the UK’s financial watchdog was not keen on direct listings, where companies immediately start trading on the stock exchange without selling existing shares.
London Tunnels says it wants to renovate the deep tunnels built in the early 1940s to shelter people during World War Two.
They ended up being used as an operations centre for parts of MI6 and said to be the inspiration for Ian Fleming’s James Bond’s Q Branch.
The developer now wants to turn the site into an underground bar and museum according to its website. It plans to open to visitors in 2027.
Mike muscles in
Topless tycoons Matt Moulding and Michael Murray have an increasing amount in common.
They not only share initials, a fitness obsession and social media accounts to show off their muscles and millions — but now business dealings too.
Mr. Moulding’s e-commerce empire, THG, has sold its luxury fashion website Coggles to Frasers Group, run by Mr. Murray.
It comes two months after Frasers put its other upmarket fashion site, Matches Fashion, into administration.
THG will start using Frasers Group’s Klarna-inspired “Buy Now Pay Later” credit service for shoppers to split the cost of their purchases.
Mr. Murray, son-in-law of Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley, has been working on rolling out its “Frasers Plus” finance arm to other retailers. Buy Now Pay Later has become big business during the cost of living crisis.
C&C told it is time for sale
Magners owner C&C has been urged to call time and put itself up for sale by an angry activist investor.
New York-based Engine Group has built up a 5 percent stake in the London-listed drinks group and accused it of a “host of self-inflicted issues.”
It added that the company was a “perennial underperformer” and that it was now “at a crossroads.”
The public letter comes two weeks after the exit of Patrick McMahon as the firm’s CEO.
He left in the wake of accounting errors on his watch as finance chief and C&C is now on its fourth chief executive in as many years.
Shares in C&C, which also makes Tennent’s Lager and Bulmers cider, were trading at 161.3p yesterday, valuing the company at £623.7million.
However, Engine Group claimed a takeover could value the business far higher at 263p-a-share based on a 58 percent bid premium.
Britvic’s fizz back
Pepsi has given its blessing to a Britvic takeover in a move that may prompt Carlsberg to sweeten its £3 billion bid.
Last week the J20 and Robinsons squash maker revealed it had rejected two approaches by Carlsberg.
Soft drinks giant Pepsi could have blocked any deal which would mean Britvic lost its 20-year bottling agreement.
Carlsberg yesterday said Pepsi had waived the clause.
Shares in Britvic shot up another six percent.
Labour’s coy over Shein aim
Labour has refused to take a strong line on Shein’s use of tax loopholes and forced labour ahead of the retailer’s bumper London listing.
The Chinese fast-fashion giant is gearing up for a £50billion London flotation and filed paperwork earlier this month.
But concerns have been raised on its supply chain and avoidance of customs duty.
Shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said he had met Shein bosses — but did not tackle the worries head on.
He said that Shein’s listing in the UK would mean “a fairly significant set of compliance.”
Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch acknowledged Shein skips paying import duties by shipping individual orders in small parcels from Chinese warehouses directly to customers.
She said: “That could mean quite a lot lost in terms of taxes.” She also voiced her concerns about slave labour camps in Xinjiang.
Buy Now Pay Later firm Laybuy has gone bust after failing to find a rescue buyer. It had 300,000 active users and 2,600 merchants in the UK and told customers to keep up to date with payments. FTI Consulting has been chosen as administrators.
Scrutiny on Apple from EC
Tech giant Apple could be hit with a multi-billion pound fine for breaching new digital competition laws.
It has been accused of making it harder for smaller companies to compete by the European Commission.
It has said that Apple’s App Store unfairly blocks app developers from advertising to customers that there are cheaper alternative payment methods available.
If the EC rules against Apple it can face a fine of up to 10 percent of global revenue — which was £171 billion last year.
European commissioner Thierry Breton said: “For too long Apple has been squeezing out innovative companies — denying consumers new opportunities and choices.”
Apple has said it is confident it “complies with the law.”
SHARES
- Barclays up 2.70 to 207.55
- BP up 3.15 to 474.15
- Centrica up 0.55 to 137.20
- HSBC up 7.00 to 690.70
- Lloyds up 0.12 to 5.68
- M&S down 2.00 to 296.00
- NatWest up 0.90 to 315.70
- Royal Mail down 1.20 to 317.80
- Sainsbury’s down 2.20 to 260.20
- Shell up 17.50 to 2,794.50
- Tesco down 0.20 to 308.40