Deliveroo has severed ties with one of its key City advisory firms after last month’s disastrous float.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal the takeaway giant has severed links with Finsbury Glover Hering (FGH), a PR firm run by Remain campaigner Roland Rudd, just weeks after £2billion was wiped off its value on its stock market debut.
The debacle saw the firm nicknamed ‘Flopperoo’ and sparked a flurry of finger-pointing.
Deliveroo has severed links with Finsbury Glover Hering (FGH), a PR firm run by Roland Rudd
The flop was all the more surprising because it came after a series of successful stock market listings, including personalised greeting card maker Moonpig and shoe manufacturer Dr Martens.
Sources said FGH’s contract for the initial public offering had concluded and the firm was no longer working for Deliveroo.
Tulchan, a PR firm run by former Tory party chairman Lord Feldman of Elstree, will take on the financial PR work, with public affairs adviser Hanbury Strategy retained.
The Mail on Sunday can also reveal Deliveroo has heeded calls from investors to withhold discretionary fees of about £18million to the banks that worked on the float: Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Bank of America, Citi, Numis and Jefferies.
The delivery app slashed its valuation ahead of the listing from £8.8billion to £7.6billion after investors raised concerns over its hefty price tag, as The Mail on Sunday revealed.
A wave of fund managers later voiced worries about both the float price and the way the company was run, before the price nose-dived on the day of the IPO.
The float, which was endorsed by Chancellor Rishi Sunak, was one of the largest and most hotly-anticipated listings in a decade.
Rudd, a former Financial Times journalist and brother of ex-Minister Amber Rudd, was chairman of the doomed People’s Vote campaign for a second Brexit referendum. FGH was formed earlier this year as a merger of three firms.
Deliveroo, which is backed by tech behemoth Amazon and boasts Next chief executive Lord Wolfson on its board, was founded by former investment banker Will Shu, who sold £26million of shares and retains a 5.1 per cent stake.
The shares closed on Friday at £2.51, 36 per cent below their £3.90 float price.
FGH, Deliveroo and Tulchan declined to comment.
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