A match for Marks
THE Great bid bubble floats on, and what do we find this week but a curiosity — a merger which seems to serve a commercial purpose. All around us, companies are happily moving into businesses they know nothing about (`your board has identified and chosen a complementary area of activi- ties') or hurling darts made of overpriced paper (`sustained growth in earnings per share'). Vantona Viyella's agreed bid for Nottingham Manufacturing, to make a textile group not far short of the size of Courtaulds, looks different. It certainly required the blessing of Marks & Spencer, the major customer, and some see the hand of M & S as matchmaker. If the match succeeds, if the reclusive Harry Djanogly at Nottingham links well with the astute Davoud Alliance of Vantona, then M & S would have two major suppliers of clothing — Courtaulds, and the new group — and could be better placed in bargaining with each of them. Time was when the textile industry had to live with an official merger policy which positively rationed Courtaulds' market share. Such times may come again, but not until the bubble bursts.
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