It’s exactly a week since news of Red Ken’s proposed takeover was revealed, and in that week he’s gone from being hailed as our saviour to derided as a publicity-crazy psycho. But after the drama of the bid revelation, there was always going to be a period of comparative silence, the more so because a) it’s the weekend and b) Martin Broughton has, correctly, insisted on a bit of decorum from any party wanting their bid to be taken seriously. Still, it’s worth reminding everyone that Ken Huang has not made a public statement and neither has CIC denied their involvement in the LFC takeover bid. The initial splurge of info was necessary, on balance, because it ensured a level of transparency leading into this bid process. But that doesn’t make Huang’s party a gang fame-hungry narcissists. Their bid is real. Their backing is real. Their intent - to be LFC’s new owners as soon as viably possible - is real.
I’ve said previously and I’ll say again - there’s a lot more that could be revealed about this bid, the consortium and the ailing health of Hicks and Gillette’s financial empires. But as has also been politely pointed out, the wisdom of radio silence is not in the limiting of information to your troops, rather making sure the enemy don’t know where you’ll hit them next. We all know these boards are scanned far and wide, so let’s not give anything away this late in the day.
Broughton has requested that all interested parties show the mettle of their bid and their worth by Wednesday. Things will begin to heat up again over the next day or two and I’m confident that Red Ken’s will end up being the only serious bid on the table.
