Those imagining that Lord Hanson’s looming large on Imperial Chemical Industries Plc’s share register with just under 3% rules out a Hanson Plc bid for IBM Corp aren’t thinking the thing through: the good Lord is already sitting on a UKP20m paper profit on the ICI deal, and his mere presence as a potentially hostile investor will be enough to galvanise the ICI management to pull out all the stops to maximise shareholder value, which should substantially improve the share price, so much so that when Hanson comes to sell, while it will have to be at a discount to the then market price, it should make UKP100m or so profit on the exercise to add to the good ol’ war chest.
