Caledonia rebels plan fresh assault

REBEL shareholders in Caledonia Investments are planning a fresh assault in their bid to break it up despite losing a crunch vote at an emergency meeting.

At a reportedly fiery gathering, shareholders in family-owned Cayzer Trust, who hold a controlling 37% stake in Caledonia, overwhelmingly voted against the rebels' aim to break up the company and return cash to shareholders.

Individual members of the wealthy Cayzer shipping family hold a further 12% Caledonia stake, making changes virtually impossible without their consent.

Despite the setback, dissident leader Sir John Craven is drafting a new letter to Cayzer shareholders to try to convince them to change their minds and force Caledonia's board into talks.

He reckons Caledonia could yield as much as 1154p a share if his plan is pursued. The shares fell 4 1/2p to 902 1/2p.

One rebel said: 'Sir John is simply crossing the Ts on a compromise proposal. He was going to speak at the meeting, but wants to wait and see what the institutional investors say.'

Both Caledonia, led by new chief Tim Ingram, and the rebels claim City investors are on their side. Hermes and Schroders are already in favour of a break-up.

Ingram said the big funds supported him during meetings yesterday. 'They back our performance and governance,' he said.