God and Jim Slater
Those who like the works of men more than the works of God will be profoundly moved by the £30 million Slater Walker Dual Trust. Slater Walker are selling big share holdings in twenty-six of their satellite companies to this new trust to take a £4.56 million profit, raise more cash and, very important, to tuck the satellite shares out of the way of a future bear market. There has always been the danger that severe financial disturbance, like IOS in the past, might produce an unpleasant domino effect on Slater's empire.
There has been criticism that the Slater Walker stable does not include a single market leader or company that may be relied on, without takeovers, to produce organic growth. This criticism is unfair. The business of Slater Walker is takeover, break up, re-formation and realisation. So long as bold stategies like the Slater Walker Dual Trust are successfully slipped onto the market, shareholders in Slater Walker know that their business, the business of dealing with business, is being looked after with unique ability.