All the union news that's fit to blog...
Just a couple of bits of info relating to Patisserie Holdings – the company behind Patisserie Valerie.
I had a quick look at filings to see if there was anything of note. One interesting disclosure is this TR1 notice showing that back in April Blackro…Read more…
Just a quick round-up of some news that relates to the issue of worker representation on boards. I think the fact that there is quite a bit is indicative of the shift in thinking that is going on.
1. This is old, but I had totally missed it. Mears Gro…Read more…
A little bit of news about workers on boards (or the lack of them) in the UK. Legal & General is the first big PLC that I have seen set out how it will address workforce engagement.
Perhaps no big surprise, but they have adopted the nominated NED …Read more…
I can see that there were at least a couple of asset managers that did not vote against either David Bonderman as chairman or Kryan McLaughlin as senior independent director. And reasons given for this are that they expect the company to make changes a…Read more…
This week has seen reality start to catch up with Elon Musk’s Twitter feed. Earlier in the year he famously tweeted that he had “Funding secured” to take Tesla private at $420 a share. This was something of a shock to external shareholders, analysts, t…Read more…
This seems pretty relevant today – a small snippet from Efficiency, Equality and the Ownership of Property that addresses the need to think about ownership of property in addition to taxation when looking at inequality.
“(i) If, in the automated world…Read more…
It’s been an interesting day for those of us on the Left with an interest in issues of governance and ownership. At Labour conference it has been announced that a future Labour government would both mandate that workers form a third of the board o…Read more…
Just a bit of fun, but I’ve put together a few bits and pieces that put the vote on David Bonderman’s re-election of chair of Ryanair in context.
To calculate the stats I’ve used the full AGM results distributed by the company, and stripped out Bonder…Read more…
Yesterday was Ryanair’s AGM, which I attended on behalf of the ITF. The two major stories ahead of the meeting – sizeable investor unrest focused on the board, and labour relations – have merged into one, with a particular focus on chairman David Bonde…Read more…
As most people will be aware, Ryanair has its AGM this week, and there is quite a bit of interest in what might happen, particularly in relation to the chairman.
These things are impossible to call in advance. The only thing we really know is the base…Read more…
ITF and ETF call for new Ryanair chairmanThe International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) are calling for shareholders to oppose the re-election of Ryanair chairman David Bonderman and overhaul the …Read more…
Three sort of related thoughts that I have had recently, when thinking more about competing interests within the firm etc.
1. If there were really no tension between different interests (i.e. managers, workers, investors) then it should not matter who …Read more…
Back from holidays, so had a quick Google to see if I could find any of that pro forma stewardship reporting that I had been tracking. And, yes, there is more:
Altavista Capital:
Altavista Investment Management UK LLP manages or advises a number of f…Read more…
The excerpt below is from For A Left Populism. I found the book a bit underwhelming to be honest, but the idea of approaching politics as a radicalisation of democracy appeals to me. I’m particularly interested in how this would play out in corp gov / …Read more…
Another day, another attack on a utility company for putting its investors first….
Press release – Embargoed until 00:01 Thursday July 26, 2018
SEVERN TRENT SHAREHOLDERS MAKE £1.1 BILLION AS BILLIONS OF LITRES WASTED, GMB REVEALS
Dividends and inter…Read more…
UPDATE: it’s out.
In recent history, Ryanair has usually published its annual report a day or two after releasing its Q1 figures.
In 2017, the day after:
In 2016, the day after:
In 2015, 3 days after:
In 2014, the day after:
In 201…Read more…
I thought I’d have another quick look at hedge fund activity around the bidding war for Sky PLC. This looks like it could be quite a profitable trade (especially after several got burnt on Qualcomm / NXP).
As before, some old favourites are in the lis…Read more…
I really like this (as quoted in this):
No-one has ever really believed that the majority decision is necessarily the wiser one because it has received the greater number of votes. It is will against will as in war. Each is convinced that right and rea…Read more…
Before his latest piece of self-promotion, Boris Johnson had been in the news for making an interesting remark – “Fuck business” – in a conversation about the attitudes of corporates towards Brexit. Though it’s a few weeks back now, it seems this remar…Read more…
A theme I think anyone with an interest in corporate governance should keep an eye on is the way that the interests of investors in a firm in relation to others are portrayed in financial media and elsewhere.
Under the 1990s model it was common to see…Read more…