Moss Bros in bid scheme

One of the family shareholders in the Moss Bros menswear chain is hatching a plan to block an indicative 42p-a-share takeover bid from Baugur. Michael Gee, a former Moss Bros director and member of one of the founding families of the chain, has sounded out bankers at HSBC about raising finance to buy at least 20% of the 29% stake owned by the Baugur-backed Unity investment group.

He is expected to offer a premium price of about 50p a share. Gee family members already control about 8% of Moss Bros shares, so if they could strike a deal to buy 20% of Unity's stake, that would lift their holding to just below the 29.9% threshold that would force them to make a bid for the whole business under Takeover Panel rules. If the share plan fails, Gee told The Sunday Times that he planned to call an extraordinary general meeting to oust the Moss Bros chief executive Philip Mountford and install new management.

Moss Bros' portfolio of brands includes Hugo Boss and Canali.