AMELIA MORRIS, a San Diego-based fund manager, has emerged as the key power broker in Philip Green’s battle for Marks & Spencer.
Morris, a senior analyst at Brandes Investment Partners, controls the American fund’s 12% stake in M&S, the largest single shareholding.
Advisers to Green and Marks & Spencer spent last week desperately trying to contact her but without success. The mother-of-four has indicated she will reveal early this week whether she supports Green’s offer.
Her role is reminiscent of the part played by Carol Galley, the former deputy chairman of Mercury Asset Management, who hit the headlines during Granada’s bid for London Weekend Television 10 years ago.
Morris has a young family and is married to former Wall Street banker Ken, who now writes financial thrillers. The couple, who have lived in San Diego for nine years, are described as “philanthropic.”
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Amelia Morris is said to be low-key, in keeping with the Brandes house style. She could not be reached for comment but her husband Ken said: “I’m not very comfortable talking about this. I’d rather stay married.”
His wife now finds herself at the centre of a real-life financial thriller. Although Brandes holds M&S stock across a number of funds and has been selling part of its holding over the past couple of days, it still owns 11.96% of M&S, which rejected an indicative offer worth at least £8.4 billion from Green last Wednesday.
Other investors, including Capital, another US investment fund, are waiting to see what Morris does before proceeding. Sources close to Capital said it was disgruntled by M&S’s decision to throw out Green’s offer so quickly. Another big investor described the M&S board’s behaviour as “over-hasty” and “cavalier”.
Options available to Brandes include putting pressure on M&S to reconsider; asking it to open a data room for Green to see if he might raise his offer; or beginning a broad consultation process with investors.
Green will continue consulting M&S shareholders over the next few days. But in an interview with The Sunday Times, he criticised the M&S board for their handling of the situation. He is annoyed the company did not explore the equity element of his offer. “They have not asked about the equity component or what shareholders can expect to get,” he said.
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If Brandes does not put any pressure on M&S, it makes it more likely that Green will walk away from the battle. He is unlikely to go hostile.
Rose last night robustly defended M&S’s position and insisted Green’s offer undervalued the business. “It significantly falls short of what we think is value for the business. We don’t just stick our finger out of the window and say we think it’s worth this. Clearly, it’s based on our knowledge and interpretation of what the levers and buttons are in the business.”
But Green can count on some City heavy-hitters for support. Peter Cummings, managing director of corporate banking at HBOS, which is backing his bid, said: “We are very comfortable with Philip Green’s position and his ability to deliver value.”