Leahy linked with DunnHumby offer

Leahy linked to DunnHumby offerTesco Clubcard chief architect Sir Terry Leahy has emerged as a potential matchmaker for DunnHumby following reports that one of the firms he advises – buyout specialist Clayton Dubilier & Rice – is eyeing up the data giant.
Founded in 1978, Clayton Dubilier & Rice has managed the investment of about $17bn (£10.5bn) in 52 businesses, including Hertz, Lexmark, and US Foods, and flogged them off for an aggregate value of over $80bn (£50bn). Leahy has been a senior advisor at the firm since 2011.
DunnHumby – valued at up to £2bn – is said to be at the top of Tesco’s potential “for sale” list, along with other assets including Blinkbox, Giraff, Harris + Hoole, Tesco Bank and Dobbies garden centres. It has already been claimed that US private equity buyout specialist TPG has had one bid for the company rejected.
Leahy has had a close relationship with DunnHumby since signing off the appointment of the then start-up in 1994. However, it was all down to the marketing executive Leahy had charged with investigating the Clubcard scheme – New Zealander Grant Harrison – who first introduced Clive Humby to the Tesco boss after he had seen him deliver a presentation at a conference.
The rest, as they say, is history, with the Clubcard credited with helping transform Tesco from founder Jack “slasher” Cohen’s “pile it high, sell it cheap” downmarket operation into the global entity it is today.
Tesco ended up doing a “Victor Kiam” – it liked it so much, it bought the company – in 2001, securing a 53% stake for a reported £30m. It eventually took full control, paying just over £100m for the business, which along with Clubcard, now works for over 400 of the largest retailers and brand-owners across the world, including Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Diageo, GlaxoSmithKline and Mondelez International.
Leahy, who left Tesco in 2011, has remained close to both Humby and Edwina Dunn ever since. Humby and Dunn finally stepped down from their eponymous business last year. 
The trio were reunited earlier this year by Drew Thomson, the former boss of Air Miles, who brought them in as major investors in Starcount, the social media insight business Thomson set up three years ago.

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1 Comment on "Leahy linked with DunnHumby offer"

  1. Former Tesco chief Sir Terry Leahy linked with DunnHumby offer http://t.co/2Oud519Jzv #CRM #loyalty #dataanalytics #DirectMarketing #data

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