March 21, 2006

Maiden Group plc

Cosima Marriner (Guardian City Diary)

The sorry tale of Maiden, the outdoor advertising firm, might not be over just yet. Just days after Maiden's bankers forced it to accept a £10m offer from the US firm Titan Outdoor or go bust, the brash entrepreneur Simon Franks is threatening the deal. Franks' Redbus investment vehicle is buying up Maiden shares to block the sale. There is also talk that a US hedge fund has been sniffing around what's left of Maiden.