MARK PAULSMEIER EXONERATED IN THE MARKS & SPENCER TAKEOVER MYSTERY

 

Ron Patterson

The UK financial establishment were stunned during February 2005 when it was announced that a prominent businessman from Cape Town - South Africa, Mr. Mark Paulsmeier, is about to follow Mr. Philip Green in making yet another takeover bid for the struggling retailer Marks and Spencer.

To this date however Mr. Paulsmeier repudiated the claim that he or his Paulsmeier Inc Group had any interest in the takeover of M&S whatsoever.

 

According to Mr. Paulsmeier his involvement in the proposed takeover transaction was merely to raise about 10 billion pounds to fund the transaction on behalf of MS Investment Partners, which had been an associate member of their international corporate network association at the time.

Mr. Howard Green [Howard Green and Philip Green is not related to each other] CEO of MS Investment Partners has confirmed that MS Investment Partners had been established by him and a senior M&S executive, who has only been identified as“Andrew”, together with two London based stockbrokers as an investment vehicle to take over M&S. Howard has categorically denied that Mr. Paulsmeier had any involvement in the takeover bid besides from being instructed to raise the necessary funding capital for the transaction.

 

We have also been provided with a document filed with the London Stock Exchange during February 2005 that confirms Mr. Paulsmeier involvement in the transaction was restricted to the facilitation of the funding for the transaction.

Considering the facts one need not be a conspiracy theorist to notice the indications of an elaborate corporate conspiracy from within the ranks of M&S. To

what end though, would be the question?

 

According to the findings of our two year investigation it became apparent that an attempt was indeed made to manipulate the share price of M&S for several obvious reasons.

During the course of 2004 the shareholders of M&S have became increasingly frustrated with the poor performance of the M&S Board and in particular the poor value of the M&S share price. The shareholders simply expected better results.

 

There was however not much the M&S Board could do to increase sales and profitability as a result of the market conditions at the time, unless of course a miracle merger or acquisition of sorts could take place to support a bullish sentiment in the M&S share price.

Suddenly and mysteriously such a public announcement was then in fact made by Mr.

Philip Green a long time friend of Mr. Stuart Rose, then the CEO of M&S, indicating that his family is about to make an offer to takeover M&S.

 

Mr. Green’s offer did not made any financial sense at the time and certain financial analysts have rightly so indicated their confusion about the value the transaction will have for the Green family should the proposed transaction go ahead. The validity and credibility of the Green family offer was therefore been questioned.

The value of the M&S share price however remained flat despite the announcement of a possible takeover by the influential Philip Green and family.

Similarly and quite unexpectedly during February 2005 information about yet another M&S takeover bid has been leaked to the London Stock Exchange and UK media by Mr. Howard Green, supposedly on instruction of his M&S partner “Andrew”.

 

The Guardian newspaper immediately went public with the information but strangely stated that Mr. Paulsmeier is the bidder instead of MS Investment Partners. The international media simply echoed the information published by The Guardian and accepted it to be factually correct. Unlike with the announcement of the Green takeover bid, the M&S share price soar on the announcement of the Paulsmeier bid.

As a consequence of the intentional dissemination of false information by the international media the second takeover bid by MS Investment Partners had been withdrawn and  mysteriously Mr. Philip Green’s family suddenly also lost interest in the possible takeover of M&S.

By reviewing the strange circumstances surrounding the two takeover bids one can only conclude that someone within M&S had concocted fictitious takeover bids with the help of influential independent third parties to manipulate the M&S share price.

It will therefore be interesting to know who has in fact benefitted from, or has stood to benefit from the transaction when it was announced that Mr. Mark Paulsmeier wanted to take over M&S. It could not have been Mr. Paulsmeier as neither he nor his group had any direct or indirect financial interests in M&S.

With our internal M&S conspiracy theory in mind we have approached the FSA; and The Guardian; and M&S; and the Metropolitan Police; and Mr. Howard Green of MS Investment Partners for their respective comments on the matter. Sadly only Mr. Howard Green was prepared to discuss the matter with us.

We have subsequently directed the following questions to him:

Q:  Howard, have MS Investment Partners submitted its takeover bid with genuine intent?

 

A: Initially it has been my understanding, but it has later become apparent that it was merely an elaborate plan by my former partners to inflate the M&S share price for personal reasons and gains. Unfortunately I was completely blindsided by the “noble purpose” of the transaction and did not know I would become a pawn in a corporate conspiracy of note.

 

Q: Have you reported your concerns to the authorities?

 

A: Yes, I have reported the matter to the FSA, Takeover Panel and the Metropolitan Police very long ago but it appears to be that the individuals in question have too much influence and power and to date nothing has come of my complaints. In fact when The Guardian first reported on the transaction, Mark Paulsmeier has immediately contacted me and informed me that something is wrong about the premature leak of the information and he told me he believes that somebody is trying to manipulate the share price, and hence his withdrawal from the transaction. At this time even he has contacted the FSA, and not the other way as reported by The Guardian, and told them of his intention to withdraw as funding facilitator of the transaction to safeguard the M&S share price from potential speculation.

 

Q Would you care to reveal the identities of your partners in MS Investment Partners and specifically that of the mysterious “Andrew”?

 

A: I am afraid it is not possible as I have reached a non-disclosure settlement with my former partners that I would not reveal any details on their identities, or their involvement in MS Investment Partners, or about the proposed transaction itself. I have however revealed their identities to the authorities before accepting the substantial cash settlement. It was only after I have contacted the authorities and UK media to expose my partners and nobody cared to take on the individuals in question that I have decided to rather accept the generous settlement offer.

 

Q: It might appear to outsiders that The Guardian newspaper and Phillip Green may

have been willing or unknowingly participating with your MS Investment Partners in the 2005 M&S takeover conspiracy. What is your take on that and if so what was the benefits for them?

 

A: I cannot comment on that I am afraid.

 

Q: The takeover of M&S dates back to 2004/2005 and yet even today many people are interested in what really happened. Do you think this will eventually fade away or will all be revealed someday?

 

A: I am not sure really. Look, unless I am ordered to testify against my former partners in a court of law no information will come forward as the UK media is not interested to further pursue the matter and neither are the UK authorities. I have also a long time ago provided sufficient evidence to warrant a full investigation into the M&S matter, and which I hoped will lead to appropriate legal action against my former partners, but to no avail. It seems that everybody was content about the fact that Mark Paulsmeier was wrongly accused and unjustly persecuted all these years.

  

Q: What role did the broader media play in all of this, as Mark Paulsmeier has made some reference to the fact that the media is to blame for his withdrawal from the takeover transaction as MS Investment Partners’ funding facilitator?

 

A: That is actually very obvious. If one should plan an elaborate scheme in which you intent to manipulate the share price of a listed company, as in the case with my former partners, you firstly must have somebody positioned in the senior management of that company, secondly an experienced stockbroker has to be involved, and most importantly thirdly you must have a lot of influence with the media. In the situation with MS Investment Partners an M&S executive director [Andrew] was a partner in MS Investment Partners together with two reputed London stockbrokers, and the Chairman of M&S was on the Board of The Guardian newspaper in London.

Incidentally this was the very same newspaper who has started the disseminated of

the incorrect and false information on the transaction and who has successfully diverted all attention to Mark Paulsmeier as the opportunistic businessman trying to takeover M&S. The international media merely echoed the important information provided by the “highly respected” Guardian newspaper believing it to be correct and with all the focus on the wrong person, my former partners have successfully achieved the manipulation of the M&S share price. Therefore without the

international media my partners would not have been successful at all.