SMALL CAP MOVERS: Debenhams boss targets Lazarus-like revival
So, what a week it’s been for Boohoo investors. The shares have doubled on the back of a strong uptick in trading.But the headline grabber has been the row that has erupted over a potential £150 million payout to the company’s chief executive if he can enact a Lazarus-like revival of the business, which now trades under the Debenhams name.The share-based payout to Dan Finley, which is based on meeting some very stretching criteria, won’t be put to a vote by investors. This is reported to have irked Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, which owns around 29 per cent of Boohoo.The company has defended its decision to push through a new turnaround incentive plan without putting it to a shareholder vote, saying a formal approval process would slow the company down at a critical moment. The group argued that speeding up the scheme would better motivate senior leaders to deliver what it described as substantial share price growth.In a pointed reference to Frasers, Boohoo said a ‘major competitor’ with a large stake had repeatedly hindered its strategy and day-to-day operations.Against that backdrop, the board said it believed skipping a vote was the most effective way to protect the interests of other investors and get the turnaround plan moving. Debenhams boss Dan Finley set for £150m payday if shares skyrocket The new incentive package, called the Group Turnaround Scheme, could be worth up to about £222million for the entire management team if the shares climb to 300p within the next five years.Now, that is a big ask, given they are sitting at around 25p (up 40 per cent on Friday). According to Peel Hunt, there’s still a lot of heavy lifting to do. That seems to be the understatement of the year.Turning to the wider market, the AIM All-Share entered the final day of a quiet week’s trading in fine fettle, adding 2 per cent. The small-cap benchmark received a double dose of decent news this week from Chancellor Rachel Reeves.She’s introducing a three-year exemption from stamp duty for new UK listings, which is hoped will kick-start the IPO market. Sentiment was further buoyed by the changes to cash ISA rules, which it is hoped will funnel savings into the public markets. Whether that cash finds its way as far down as AIM and Aquis remains to be seen.Just behind Boohoo on the winners’ list was European Metals, which jumped 60 per cent after the firm announced that its 49 per cent-owned Cinovec lithium project has been approved for a Czech government grant of up to €360million.The award, subject to final administrative steps, is under the Strategic Investments for a Climate-Neutral Economy programme. The grant will fund eligible capital costs and support large-scale battery material production.Cinovec has already received €36million from the EU Just Transition Fund and has been declared a Strategic Project under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act. These designations provide access to accelerated permitting and EU-level financial support, it noted.Up 51 per cent, Shield Therapeutics appears to be getting its mojo back. The fact the movement came in a zero-news week for the business does look a little spurious. However, the group is seeing decent commercial traction for its iron-deficiency drug.Now onto the losers. EQTEC shares plunged 43 per cent as the waste-to-energy group warned of working-capital strain and detailed a debt-restructuring plan involving Rebel Ion, which may buy £5.8 million of loans. The deal requires an equity raise, with no certainty it will complete.Versarien shares tumbled 39 per cent after a would-be buyer abandoned talks to acquire its remaining assets, leaving the engineering materials group weighing options including administration. The collapse of last month’s tentative deal removes a potential lifeline as the board seeks urgent alternatives.Premier African Minerals slid 32 per cent this week and is down 83 per cent year-to-date after raising £500,000 via a discounted share subscription. The cash offers short-term breathing room for Zulu project work, but heavy dilution and ongoing funding strain weighed on sentiment.And finally, IP Group was on the up this week, rising 8 per cent after the Chancellor handed deep-tech investors a genuine boost.Susie Harris of IP’s Parkwalk investment arm told Proactive that doubling the funding cap for knowledge-intensive companies to £40 million should help UK spinouts stay and scale at home rather than being snapped up early.With support from bodies such as the British Business Bank and the National Wealth Fund, she argued the UK now has a clearer path to becoming a scale-up economy, and that later-stage capital, including pension funds, could finally start backing these companies through global growth.For all the breaking mid- and small-cap news go to www.proactiveinvestors.co.ukDIY INVESTING PLATFORMSAJ BellAJ BellEasy investing and ready-made portfoliosHargreaves LansdownHargreaves LansdownFree fund dealing and investment ideasinteractive investorinteractive investorFlat-fee investing from £4.99 per monthFreetradeFreetradeInvesting Isa now free on basic planTrading 212Trading 212Free share dealing and no account feeAffiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. 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