HANSOM DOG EAT DOG

摘要

Connaught doth protest too much - that was the conclusion of some in the City last week following talk that private equity firm 3i was looking to snap it up and merge it with its Enterprise outsourcing business. The story sent the share price up 2%, which as some pointed out, wasn't exactly headline-grabbing. But it was enough to send the company's excitable spin doctors into full-on denial mode "with the haste of an Olympic sprinter", in the words of Kevin Cammack at Genkos Securities. Their stern statement informed us that Gonnaught had received no approaches "formal or otherwise". This failed to quash rumours of 3i's interest and, as Cammack pointed out, served as more of a "come and get me plea". What ever happened to playing hard to get?