The Competition & Markets Authority is the watchdog that fails to bark - let alone bite, says ALEX BRUMMER
Britain’s veterinary surgeons, the Royal Mail and Thames Water might not appear to have much in common as businesses. Yet they all serve consumers who receive a rotten deal.Animal lovers face exorbitant prices. Users of the postal service pay a premium for first-class deliveries which fail to arrive on time. And customers of Thames Water are battling against higher regulated prices, burst water mains, repairs and sewage discharges into rivers.Also in common are ownership structures. Vet practices are no longer dominated by lovely chaps in tweeds and wellies on the James Herriot model. The £6.7billion industry is now largely controlled by six big, debt-financed private equity groups in for the big bucks.Suffice to say, Daniel Kretinsky’s International Distribution Services, owner of Royal Mail, is also swamped by borrowing. Thames Water is a debt-laden basket case struggling for a credible rescue plan. Toothless: The Competition & Markets Authority has carried out a three-year investigation into veterinary industryAfter a three-year probe into vets, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has hatched a mouse in the face of soaring prices. It doesn’t bode well for the Chancellor’s promise of robust action against price gouging and profiteering in volatile fuel markets.At the core of the CMA report are demands for more transparency. Vets will be required to publish a comprehensive price list for services. Without being pernickety, they should be doing so anyway.There is also to be a price cap of £21 on prescriptions. This should end vets selling drugs at extortionate prices on their own premises, when clients could make enormous savings online.All this is terrific, except the damage has been done. The UK, as with so many other services, has become a honeypot for ruthless financial owners. Private equity barons such as IVC Evidensia, which is seeking to go public, will be breathing a sigh of relief. Private equity ownership enriches executives and vets at the expense of pet owners and farmers.It was a chance for new CMA chair, Amazon emigre Douglas Gurr, to bare his teeth. He should have demanded an end to oligopolistic ownership and sought a break-up of the plunderers.Peltz winBrooklyn Beckham’s father-in-law is on a good run. Nelson Peltz has been instrumental in shaking up Unilever, which is seeking to exit food to focus on wellness, beauty and personal care.Now he is about to seize control of London fund managers Janus Henderson, listed on the New York Stock Exchange.Janus Henderson has been troubled in recent times as investors drifted away from active management to lower-cost, follow-the-crowd index-linked funds.It reversed the process last year in an alliance with America’s Guardian Life Assurance that led to a transfer of almost £35billion of public fixed-income assets to its books, flattering performance.That didn’t stop a crisis in its strategic bond fund, which has been plagued by outflows. None of this has deterred suitors. A special committee of the Janus board has been holding the ring as Peltz’s Trian, assisted by venture capital outfit General Catalyst, have slugged it out for control with Victory Capital.An increased offer from Peltz, worth £6billion, achieved a knockout, offering investors a 25 per cent premium to the pre-bid price, taking the enterprise private.The timing may not be ideal for the new owners. The conflagration in the Arabian Gulf is changing arithmetic, with interest rates looking stickier, if not rising.Fissures have also developed in private credit markets and there are questions over AI valuations. As for the City of London – with each successive deal a famous, century-old name in UK fund management is ever more divorced from its roots.Ashley swoopOnline fast-fashion pioneer Asos, once a big Covid winner, is showing renewed signs of life, with profits up 50 per cent in the first half and sales up in all key markets.The big question is what the next move by its enigmatic biggest shareholder, Mike Ashley’s Frasers, which raised its stake to 29.2 per cent this week.At this level of holding, Frasers is less than a percentage point short of being required to launch a full takeover.Join the debateHow should we hold powerful companies and regulators accountable when consumers keep getting a raw deal?DIY 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. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.Compare the best investing account for you
