Safely grazing
Rival bidders jostle on the steps of Harrods, while, within, the chairman stands at bay. Then the rough bidder jostles his softly-spoken rival aside, mar- ches in to the chairman, and slaps down his proffered cheque. The chairman glares at him. 'No, Sir,' , he says. `Not to you.' — That was the earlier auction, a generation ago, when the defending chairman was Sir Richard Burbidge, and the bidder he sought to snub was Hugh Fraser. Deb- enhams was the gentlemanly suitor of Harrods's choice, but House of Fraser was the winner. What an ego-trip (said the market) for Hugh Fraser! Fancy paying £40 million for a shop! Now after 25 inflation- ary years £610 million cash does not seem cheap for a shop, even adding in all the lesser shops which Hugh Fraser brought with him. It is a triumph for Warburgs and for Cazenoves, sheepdogs to the unruly flock of City institutions which found themselves in the same pen as Lonrho, as House of Fraser shareholders. A succes- sion of nail-biting votes showed how hard it is to keep such a flock together in success- ful opposition to a single shareholder with a 30 per cent stake and with friends of its own. The sheepdogs' patience was re- warded. Even for an attractive proposal like the de-merging of Harrods from House of Fraser, the sheep's votes were not for sale. Only their shares were.
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