Pentos plc was a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

that operated between 1972 and 1995 and was best known for its ownership of the

Dillons Dillons is a grocery supermarket chain based in Hutchinson, Kansas, and is a division of Kroger. Other banners under Dillon Stores Division include Gerbes in Missouri and Baker's in Omaha, Nebraska. Dillons operates grocery stores throughout K ...

Ryman Ryman is a stationery retail company with 205 outlets nationwide in the United Kingdom. The website and stores provide a wide range of stationery and office supplies for homes and businesses, with its headquarters in Crewe, Cheshire. Hist ...

and

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...

retail brands. Pentos was established from a

shell company A shell corporation is a company or corporation that exists only on paper and has no office and no employees, but may have a bank account or may hold passive investments or be the registered owner of assets, such as intellectual property, or s ...

by Terry Maher in January 1972 as a vehicle for his investment in the publisher Marshall, Morgan & Scott and the joinery company Austin Hall Group. By May 1972 Pentos had acquired a listing on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

through its

reverse takeover A reverse takeover (RTO), reverse merger, or reverse IPO is the acquisition of a public company by a private company so that the private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public. Sometimes, conversely, the public compan ...

of the listed Cape Town & District Gas, Light & Coke company. Pentos entered the retail trade through its purchase of the Birmingham-based Hudsons Bookshops chain by its subsidiary Marshall, Morgan & Scott in 1972. It bought Dillon's University Bookshop in London in 1977, and the Dublin-based

Hodges Figgis Hodges Figgis is a bookshop located on Dawson Street in Dublin. Founded in 1768, it was moved and expanded numerous times until 1992, when it settled into its current location at 56-58 Dawson Street. It is given a passing mention in James Joyce ...

bookshop in 1978. Pentos' shares were suspended and the company went into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...

on 1 March 1995.

References

Bibliography

*{{cite book , last=Maher , first=Terry , title=Against My Better Judgement: Adventures in the City and in the Book Trade , year=1994 , publisher=

Sinclair Stevenson Sinclair-Stevenson Ltd is a British publisher founded in 1989 by Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson. Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson became an editor at Hamish Hamilton in 1961. Thirteen years later in 1974 he became managing director, establishing ...

, location=London , isbn= 1-85619-518-X British companies established in 1972 British companies disestablished in 1995 Retail companies established in 1972 Retail companies disestablished in 1995 Conglomerate companies of the United Kingdom Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom