James Moore: Edward Bramson should stop playing Putin and just make a bid for Electra

Friday is usually a quiet day in the City, but Edward Bramson decided the time was right to liven things up by throwing his toys out of the pram and indulging in a good, old-fashioned, two-year-old tantrum.

The activist investor behind Sherborne penned a furious missive bashing the board of Electra, the listed private-equity group he’s currently laying siege to.

It says Electra’s directors have engaged in “confrontational” and “aggressive” behaviour towards Bramson and his pal Ian Brindle who are terribly upset at being “excluded” from efforts to pep up performance.

All they want to do is work “collaboratively” and “constructively” with Electra’s directors if only they’d let them onto the board.

This is all rather like Vladimir Putin fomenting civil war in Ukraine while moaning that the rest of the world is picking on Russia for complaining about it as he seeks to portray himself as a peacemaker.

I hold no candle for Electra. Bramson has certainly managed to compile a lengthy and detailed list of complaints, some of which might have a degree of legitimacy.

But when it comes to how things would get better with himself and Brindle running the show, his letter is rather more vague.

At this stage perhaps it would be worth mentioning that he does always have the option of launching a takeover bid and paying a premium.

That, however, would involve the deployment of funds and the exercise of real risk.

Far better to make a big fuss and hope the target’s directors will get fed up and hand him the keys to the cookie jar before wandering off to pick up some less-stressful non-executive fees at backwater investment trusts.

It used to be that life-insurance and long-term-savings trade bodies were rather cosy places to work.

Their business would involve doing a bit of lobbying, issuing a few press releases and keeping members sweet before heading off to the country, courtesy of their fees.

That’s changed radically in recent years, as ministers have launched a bewildering array of policy initiatives and shake-ups, leaving them battling for relevance.