DCC founder Jim Flavin, holder of a 3.22% stake, has broken with the board he chaired until 2008 to denounce a £5.7bn takeover from KKR and Energy Capital Partners as a fire-sale price. The consortium's £65.25-per-share cash offer plus £1.47 in dividends — a 24.5% premium to the pre-bid price — won the board's recommendation this week after a deadline extension. Flavin, who built the Dublin-based energy distributor from a 1976 startup into an FTSE 100 company, argues fair value sits at £100 per share, or 16.6 times earnings versus the bid's 10.8 times.

Major shareholders have rallied behind Flavin's rebellion. Fidelity International, Aviva Investors and Ninety One all declared the bid "significantly undervaluing" DCC's growth trajectory. Their opposition carries weight: DCC generates a 20% return on capital with near-100% cash conversion, and a pending £600mn technology disposal will leave the company virtually debt-free. Analysts' average target before the bid stood at just £57.83, underscoring the valuation chasm.

The standoff spotlights London's deepening equity-market crisis. A successful deal would mark another FTSE 100 exit to US private equity, following CRH's primary listing shift to New York. Flavin warned the LSE "needs support" as domestic champions depart. The board insists it acted in shareholders' best interests, but Flavin's letter to unnamed alternative suitors suggests he's engineering a competing bid — or at least a higher price.

If shareholders reject the offer next week, the board faces a credibility crisis. Flavin predicts the chair would need to explain why he endorsed a price the founder calls "on the cheap." Yet Flavin concedes £100 is unrealistic for any bidder. The likeliest outcome: a modest bump to £70-75 that lets the board claim victory while Flavin sells into strength — another London asset departing at a discount.