Cayzer family battle over Caledonia hots up
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The internecine battle within the wealthy Cayzer family over its investment vehicle Caledonia Investments, took another twist yesterday when one of the warring clans was accused of not behaving fairly to all shareholders.
Sir John Craven, chairman of the group that wants to break Caledonia up and sell its assets, accused the Cayzer family of wanting to tighten their control over the investment trust without paying an appropriate premium for the move. Some of the family want Caledonia to embark on a share buy-back programme to try to narrow the discount to its net assets that the trust trades at.
The move would push the Cayzer family's stake in Caledonia to more than 50 per cent. Other members of the family are backing moves by Sir John and other rebels - including institutional shareholders Hermes and Schroders to break up Caledonia. The Cayzer Trust currently owns 37.8 per cent of Caledonia. Other family members control 12 per cent.
Tim Ingram, chief executive of Caledonia, who speaks for the group wanting to keep the investment trust in one piece, spoke out earlier this week against Hermes, accusing it of trying to block his attempts to narrow the discount via share buy-backs.
Sir John, former chairman of the Lonrho conglomerate, responded last night, saying: "Any buyback would allow the Cayzer family concert party to tighten control over Caledonia and possibly even gain in excess of 50 per cent without paying any premium for control. It is difficult to see how this could be in the interests of shareholders as a whole."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments