Sir Tom 'Crocodile' Hunter, who's investment vehicle, West Coast Capital, took Tesco all the way in the fight to control the Dobbies garden brand, is taking legal action in a bid the thwart the open offer which will see Hunter have to stump up a further £44 million, or risk seeing his 29% stake diluted and with it the all important voting rights that would take the sharpness off of the thorn, deeply embedded in Tesco's side.
It leaves me wondering if this has not all been orchestrated by Tesco and whether Hunter has in fact, not been as astute as we are led to believe he is, by reading his City profile.
Here is a man who sought to save the industry from domination from an industry giant and at the same time, strove to build up as many garden outlets [through West Coast Capital] as he could.
The money spent in buying (at a premium way above the market price and way below today's share price) his 29% stake could have been ploughed into his own Wyevale brand which is Dobbies closest rival.
I wrote recently about how Hunter is now between a rock and a hard place and that position sees a high price on it, whatever way he decides to go.
If the high court bid to stop the rights issue fails, Tesco, why has cleverly underwritten the offer - meaning it will pick up any of the rights not taken up by existing shareholders - will see it's total shareholding rise to over 75% and increase the clout it has at board level, possibly leading to an eventual full takeover.
If I had been Hunter, I would have let Tesco go and bought up the Dobbies acquisition targets whilst they were tied up in the paperwork and made a fight out of it that way.
You might ask why I have made such an issue out of the Dobbies battle and the Tesco versus Hunter war?
The reasons are simple - the garden consumer, and his ability to buy in an open and free market have seriously been derailed by the intrusion of both these heavyweights.
The independent garden centres are selling up in troubled times at a premium to the current climate and have been too weak to see the potential for the future in a multi billion pound market.
On the one hand, you cannot blame them for taking what money is on the table but on the other, they are helping to destroy the fabric of a market that should be about small communities, locally grown produce and above all, quality at the tills and not perfumes and sun beds.
Come on, there must be some strong views out there? See you in the network.
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