Abrdn (ABDN), Wood Group (WG.) and UK retail sales
Abrdn (ABDN) chief executive Stephen Bird has parted ways with the troubled asset manager after a turbulent time at the company. He hands over to Jason Windsor, currently group financial officer, who will act as interim CEO from 30 June until a permanent replacement is appointed.
Mr Bird’s tenure was not without controversy, particularly the much-mocked name change from AberdeenStandardLife that turned the company’s branding into a mostly vowel-free zone. The regular teasing over this apparent abuse of the English language led to recent accusations from chief investment officer Peter Branner that the media was “bullying” the company. In addition, the purchase of investment platform Interactive Investor for £1.5bn in 2022 was seen as an expensive “top of the market” deal.
However, chief executives are measured by results and the near halving of Abrdn’s share price during Bird’s four-year time at the helm is perhaps more illustrative of the asset manager’s problems. JH
Read more: It's make or break(up) for Abrdn
Wood Group rejects third Sidara offer
The third time wasn’t the charm for hopeful Wood Group (WG.)-buyer Sidara, which offered 220p a share for the engineering and services company earlier this week. This was an increase on the second bid level of 212p, and valued the company at over £2bn.
Investors have largely dismissed the possibility of a buyout going through, with Wood trading well below the offer level. “The board, together with its financial advisers, carefully considered the third proposal, in particular, in the context of the board's view of the fundamental prospects of Wood, and concluded that it continued to significantly undervalue the Group and its prospects,” the company said.
Sidara, a fellow consultancy with an engineering focus, is still under the 240p a share Apollo put forward last year, although Wood has traded around 150p over the past 12 months. AH
