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The Works: M&A Activity
Activist investor Kelso (10% stake, third-largest shareholder) is pushing to appoint retired private equity partner Graeme Coulthard to The Works board ahead of AGM next month. The Works board opposes the move, calling it a distraction to growth strategy. Coulthard owns 8% of the company and has PE background (19 years at Charterhouse). Kelso previously orchestrated chair removal and replacement in 2024.
Source: City AM
- What happened
- Activist investor Kelso (10% stake, third-largest shareholder) is pushing to appoint retired private equity partner Graeme Coulthard to The Works board ahead of AGM next month. The Works board opposes the move, calling it a distraction to growth strategy. Coulthard owns 8% of the company and has PE background (19 years at Charterhouse). Kelso previously orchestrated chair removal and replacement in 2024.
- Who
- The Works · UK
- When
- 2026-08-13
- Source
- City AM
- So what
- Consolidation shifts the leadership question from growth to integration.
The leadership read
Consolidation shifts the leadership question from growth to integration. For The Works in the sector, the demand moves toward transformation and integration leaders who can merge teams, systems and cultures without losing momentum. Across EMEA, watch whether the integration is properly resourced; deals are won or lost the year after they close.
Market context: The wider read — a Talent Market Index of 122.7 (Hot), up 17.8 month-on-month — shows EMEA signal flow easing (-17.7pts).
The Works: 2 signals in the last 90 days; 0.1% of MitchelLake's Oceania signal flow; 3 tracked across 84 days.
MitchelLake in this thematic
Also at The Works →
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Where this lands in our work
- Private Equity →
Ownership change resets the executive requirement — value-creation leadership follows the deal.
- Executive Search: EMEA →
Our EMEA practice runs the searches behind signals like this one.
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