Should Northgate heed the call of its activist shareholder and disassemble White Van Man? The vehicle rental business beloved of the small-jobs trader and operator of small commercial fleets is facing a call from one of its biggest investors, Crystal Amber, to break itself up by offloading its booming Spanish arm.
Richard Bernstein at Crystal Amber, fourth-largest shareholder with a holding of 6.3 per cent, reckons the Spanish division, which controls close to half the country’s market for renting small commercial vehicles, is worth €700 million.
If true, this valuation, which is based on the likely worth of a local rival, Alquiber, listing shortly in Madrid, would mean the Spanish business is worth more than Northgate’s stock market value in the UK at, give or
