Bill Gates, the third richest man in the world, perhaps knows very well knows about the British addiction of home improvement. He has acquired a stake in the largest carpet retailer, Carpetright, despite the gloomy picture of retail in the UK.
Cascade Investment, the investment company of the Microsoft founder, acquired 3 per cent stake in company and became the 15th biggest share holder of Carpetright. It was not clear how much did Cascade pay to Carpetright for the stake. Both refrained from disclosing the details. But a fair estimate, on the basis of last price before the announcement, the cost of more than 2m ordinary shares purchased by Gates works out to £15.6m which is a fraction of his fortune estimated to be £29.4bn by Forbes. Carpetright’s shares rose 12½p before closing at 793½p.
Lord Harris of Peckham, founder of Carpetright, owns 23 per cent of the shares. His son Martin Harris will take over as the new chief after he steps down next year. Mr. Gates stakes in Carpetright are not likely boost the already sagging business of the sector in the backdrop of falling consumer spending and crashing of housing market. Carpetright, headquartered at Purfleet in Essex, has 675 stores across the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands and Poland.