Promises, promises
WONDER what has become of the two canvas chairs. We used to see such a lot of them earlier this year, when Burton was trying to take over Debenhams. The chairs were dreamed up by Burton's advertising agency. Each contained a powerful figure, seen in rear view and silhouette, and each, like a film director's chair, bore the name of its occupant: 'Ralph Halpern', and 'Sir Terence Conran'. Two for the price of one, their message ran (and ran): the bid offered Debenhams' shareholders the chance to have their business managed by not one but two retailing geniuses, Mr Halpern, chairman of Burton, and Sir Terence, chairman of Habitat-Mothercare, which would have an option on 20 per cent of Debenhams. Shareholders were per- suaded, the bid went through, but Sir Terence has yet to exercise his option and come aboard. It is not that he is hanging about. This week he announced an agreed merger between Habitat-Mothercare and British Home Stores, to produce a retail business valued in the stock market at £1,500 million. Burton shareholders, and particularly those who came in from De- benhams, must reflect that setting up a business on this scale will take even the tireless Sir Terence quite a lot of his time. The Burton share price has said so too: while other retail shares scaled new peaks, Burton began to edge down from the heights. In today's markets, no takeover is too large to be credible, or too far-fetched to be plausible, Imperial Group, with a long history of damaging its health by gluttonous acquisitions, finally sheds the weight of Howard Johnson, and promptly makes a pig of itself with United Biscuits. Chemring, which makes the anti-radar chaff to set Exocets off course, is merging with Paines, whose rockets are at their best on Guy Fawkes' night: there's synergy for you. This is a good time for shareholders to look back at the bright promises which came with earlier bids — and, in all fairness, at the even brighter counter- promises thrown in by desperate defen- ders. In the sales this winter, check the Burton clearance lines for canvas chairs.
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