Market Report: 'The Rottweiler' bids to end InternetQ’s miserable stock market run

Shares in InternetQ rose by 61.25p, or 75 per cent, to 143p as it revealed that Toscafund had teamed up with private equity group Penta Capital and InternetQ’s boss, Panagiotis Dimitropoulos, about an offer to take it private.

Steady declines on the FTSE 100 quickly turned into another mauling as the blue-chip index slumped by 138.09 points (AFP/Getty Images)

Martin Hughes is at it again. The Toscafund boss, known in the City as “the Rottweiler” for his aggressive approach to investing, has made a bid to end InternetQ’s miserable stock market run. The Greek mobile marketing and music streaming company’s value has plunged since allegations about its business and comparisons with another Aim-listed Greek firm, Globo, which collapsed into administration after its executives admitted to fraud in October.

Shares in InternetQ rose by 61.25p, or 75 per cent, to 143p as it revealed that Toscafund, which backed Daisy Group’s management-led buyout in 2014, had teamed up with private equity group Penta Capital and InternetQ’s boss, Panagiotis Dimitropoulos, about an offer to take it private.

In July, Toscafund and Penta injected £12m into Akazoo, InternetQ’s music streaming service, which at the same time merged with R&R Music, founded by the former EMI boss Eric Nicoli, another company backed by Toscafund. The pair took a 30.1 per cent stake in the business, while Toscafund has a near-7 per cent holding in InternetQ.

Steady declines on the FTSE 100 quickly turned into another mauling as the blue-chip index slumped by 138.09 points, or 2.3 per cent, to 5,922.01. BP was the biggest laggard, falling by 31.85p to 335.1p after its widest loss in 20 years.

Things were not much rosier for Royal Dutch Shell, whose credit rating was cut to A plus, its lowest ever, by the ratings agency Standard and Poor’s. Even a Citi upgrade to “buy” following its takeover of BG failed to lift Shell, whose shares fell 64.5p to 1,435.5p.

The Anglo-Australian miner BHP Billiton crashed by 45.7p to 632.4p after S&P cut its rating to A from A-plus, saying that it could fall further if it does not shore up its cash position, and this could put its dividend under threat.

Elsewhere, Sports Direct was 9.6p worse off at 406.8p even after Morgan Stanley upgraded the sporting goods retailer to “overweight”, arguing that a recent sell-off of the shares was overdone. Its analyst Anisha Singhal said: “It may have serious governance issues, but it remains a very good retailer.”