RE: Bonnier RNS's - don't believe everything u read17 Jan 2024 21:29
THE Irish billionaires stalking Manchester United are buying a chunk of reviving office renter Regus.
John Magnier and JP McManus - Man U's biggest stakeholders with 25.49% - are tipped as buyers of Robert Bonnier's 7.5% holding in Regus.
Bonnier, best known for running online directory business Scoot.com, once plotted to bid for Regus.
He has made a multimillion pound profit from Regus, having snapped up shares as Simon Cawkwell - the self-styled Evil Knievil - tried to drive the price down.
Cawkwell lost more than £3m as Regus stock soared. In the past year, it has risen from 13p to 70p (up 4p), making Bonnier's 7.5% stake worth £31m.
Bonnier is believed to have used proceeds from Regus to increase his stake in software firm Innovation Group to around 20% to flush out a bidder.
The Dutchman has brought a counter-restitution claim after sweeping freezing orders were wrongly granted against his and Aaqua’s assets.
So-called worldwide freezing orders, which apply not just in the UK but globally, were once described by a judge as “nuclear weapons of the law”. Aaqua and Bonnier claim the orders had a “catastrophic impact”, causing the loss of 160 jobs and €195m (£170m), which they are seeking to recover from Candy and his venture fund.
Lawyers for CVS have apologised for “misleading information” provided when obtaining the freezing orders and acknowledged they were “wrongly granted” but reject that the orders caused the losses incurred or that they were as large as claimed.
Fat boy cawkwell got off lightly. All the shorters stuck in boom, desperately looking for an exit, will not recover - mark my words.
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