OpCapita boss Jackson sees repeat of MFI
HENRY Jackson, founder of OpCapita, is no stranger to the UK high street but his track record of turning companies around has been far from perfect.
His company picked DIY chain MFI as its maiden takeover, snapping it up for £1 in 2006 and securing a £130m dowry before it collapsed into administration with huge losses two years later.
Comet now faces a similar fate just a year after Jackson pledged to return the kettles-to-computers group retailer to profitability with industry veteran John Clare at the helm.
American-born, Jackson started his career with First Boston, an investment bank in New York before moving to London and becoming Deutsche Bank’s head of European consumer and retail.
He set up Merchant Equity Partners in 2006, which later became OpCapita.