The Wontner Line
NEGOTIATION by press release is a clumsy way to do business, so it must be a coincidence that Forte's hopes for the Savoy are in the news again. We learn for the umpteenth time that Forte has a plan — to put its luxury hotels into the Savoy group on terms that would give it a control- ling interest. What Forte needs is a plan to penetrate the defences rigged up by Sir Hugh Wontner, who arranged that some Savoy shares should have 20 times as many votes as others, and left the high-voting shares in what have proved to be firm hands. Two English trusts and one Swiss foundation hold the key. Half-a-dozen years ago, Forte went for the foundation, claiming that its shares had been improper- ly issued to it and ought therefore to be cancelled. The Savoy board successfully relied on a Victorian leading case between two litigants called Foss and Harbottle. Giles Shepard, the Savoy's suave managing director, named his goldfish after them. They cost less to feed than lawyers. In the end the two sides agreed to an armistice, but now there are signs of probing and reconnaissance around the trusts. Their dividend income is not what it was. Could the trustees have a duty to get off their assets? I still think that Mr Shepard should adopt my solution and open the chairman- ship to competition in the Savoy Grill. Fail- ing that, he should consult his goldfish.
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