The co-owners of Asda, private equity firm TDR Capital, got a grilling before Parliament on Tuesday. They sought to convince the Business and Trade Committee that they were maximally transparent with the business — even though most of their activities are based in Jersey where they don’t have to disclose any accounts.
You will have read from previous Spy newsletters that MPs were upset with the choice of names for some of the holding companies with which they acquired the supermarket, in particular Phantom Investments, which one MP described as an “investment structure that is named something that is synonymous with lies, deception and deceit”.
Well, red-faced execs have now undertaken to give it a new name — and Spy can’t wait to find out what it is.
And the TDR bosses couldn’t wait to get out of Westminster. When the grilling was over and execs were walking home, a colleague of managing partner Gary Lindsay was heard exclaiming: “Freedom!” “Yes, that’s exactly right,” replied Lindsay.
What should TDR's new holding company name be? Get in touch at cityspy@standard.co.uk to submit your own ideas.
In other names news
For many years, the Standard’s eight-strong City desk has run a markets blog, which we call FTSE 100 Live. It attracts thousands of City readers each day, tens of thousands on a good day.
The big brains at the huge London newsroom of Bloomberg, the specialists in business news, also run a markets blog. They’ve decided to give it a fresh look in 2024, including an inventive new name.
Can you guess what it is? Yup, FTSE 100 Live.
Imitation is the best form of flattery, I suppose.
