grandees | Common News Update

David Davis, the former Brexit secretary, has urged ministers to probe a Chinese bid to take control of Imagination Technologies Group, amid fears that the British chip designer's assets will be shifted away from the UK.Sky News has seen a letter from Mr Davis to Oliver Dowden, the digital, culture, media and sport secretary, asking the government to "investigate this potential change of control of an important British strategic asset and, if necessary…intervene to ensure that this change of control does not take place". The growing clamour for government intervention relates to an effort by China Reform Holdings - which has close links to Beijing - to nominate four directors to Imagination's board at an emergency meeting on Tuesday.If the move takes place, it could give China Reform suffi...

The consumer goods giant behind Dove and Marmite‎ has opened talks with the trust established by one of the group's founders as part of a shareholder charm offensive aimed at abolishing its UK headquarters. Sky News has learnt that ‎Unilever and the Leverhulme Trust - set up in 1925 after the death of William Hesketh Lever, or Lord Leverhulme - are discussing the unification of the company's legal structure into a single entity based in the Netherlands.The talks are significant because the board of the Leverhulme Trust, which is the second-biggest investor in Unilever's London-listed shares, is populated by former grandees from the FTSE-100 group.Its views on the move will carry huge weight both inside and outside the company.The Trust's chairman is Niall FitzGera...

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Tory grandees urge probe into China’s Imagination coup

Unilever grandees weigh Dutch headquarters shift