Britain’s largest union, Unite warned that today’s formal hostile
takeover bid of GKN by Melrose was ‘debt fuelled’ and marked a
return to 1980’s cowboy capitalism. Urging the secretary of
state for business Greg Clark to intervene, Unite assistant general
secretary Steve Turner said: “Melrose’s bid is a return of
1980’s cowboy capitalism. It should have no place in our
cutting edge engineering, aerospace and automotive sectors.
“In Melrose succeeds...Request free
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Britain’s largest union, Unite warned that today’s formal hostile
takeover bid of GKN by Melrose was ‘debt fuelled’ and marked a
return to 1980’s cowboy capitalism.
Urging the secretary of state for business to intervene, Unite assistant
general secretary Steve Turner said: “Melrose’s bid is a
return of 1980’s cowboy capitalism. It should have no place in
our cutting edge engineering, aerospace and automotive
sectors.
“In Melrose succeeds in its bid by borrowing vast sums of cash to
fund a short-term bung to shareholders, GKN, which is a central
supplier to our national security strategy, will be saddled with
huge levels of debt and instability.
“The truth is UK takeover law is too flimsy to prevent this sort of
predatory bid from Melrose; it would not happen in France, for
example. That is why the secretary of state for business, , must use the unique powers he has
to block the sale.
“In the wake of Carillion, the case for intervention is clear.
While Melrose bosses stand to rake in a massive £284 million in
bonuses if the deal goes through, it will be workers who will pay
the price with their livelihoods and potentially their pensions, as
parts of the business are asset stripped and sold off to pay for
the debt.
“This is a deal aimed at turning a fast buck for the few in the
short-term. It does nothing to build a stable, secure future
for a great British company whose highly skilled workforce lead the
way in electric vehicle development and aerospace engineering.
“Because of the defence work GKN delivers, the UK government can
and must use its power to intervene in the national interest and
stop this deal going through.
“Unite is pulling out all the stops to oppose this bid, as well as
seeking concrete assurances from the current management. We will
not allow two sets of management to compete for the affections of
shareholders by promising faster and deeper cuts. For Unite
defending jobs always comes first.”
