The damned remain united

Having been brutally ousted by Joe Lewis, Simon Laffin's 59 days as chairman of pubco Mitchells & Butlers look like the corporate equivalent of Brian Clough's 44 day reign at Leeds "Damned" United. And just like Old Big 'Ead, he's not going quietly.

On today's letters page of the Financial Times, Laffin writes: "Shareholder activism is, rightly, being encouraged, but has the regulatory framework yet adjusted to this? An activist shareholder, or group of shareholders, with around 40 per cent of the equity can determine the composition of the board and, as we saw last week, effectively select the chairman."

Clearly, it's still a Laffin matter.

Lewis rides again

I read that Joe Lewis, the country's ninth richest man, is working on a takeover bid for Alphameric.
That's the listed technology company that also owns a 50% stake in Turf TV, a joint-venture broadcast service with a consortium of 31 racecourses, that beams live racing footage from the top UK courses into bookmakers' shops.
The bookies have always hated Turf TV - which competes with the Ladbrokes- and William Hill-owned rival, SIS - and the new service's creation triggered a number of lengthy legal battles (eventually won by the Turf TV stable).
Still, there are a couple of intriguing points about Lewis's interest not mentioned in today's Telegraph report.
First, Joe Lewis is still thought to be a sizeable Ladbrokes shareholder; and second, the JV deal covering Turf TV contains a change of control clause that allows the racecourses to buy 100% of the broadcasting service if Alphameric gets takenover.