RSM Tenon takes longer view on shareholder value

Fascinating times for RSM Tenon.

From struggling to make a profit through absorbing a host of different firms in the early days, it now has its house in order – proving to be a very successful business.

So much so that it has moved to the FTSE Small Cap index, which will introduce a whole host of investment funds to its offering.

Sentiment, and cold hard investment, are in Tenon’s favour at the moment. Institutional investor Legal and General has upped its stake in the firm to 5.5%. Even investor sites have spoken well of the firm.

Chief executive Andy Raynor doesn’t take this for granted, but neither is he too panicked about its move onto the radars of the prominent funds.

“It doesn’t increase the pressure to grow…we’ve been under the spotlight,” he told me earlier today.

There is still value to be gleaned from its Bentley Jennison and Vantis acquisitions, and this, he believes, will require a couple of years to flourish.

Any other attempts to grow the business by acquisitions will, by implication destroy the value to be gained from doing the deals in the first place.

So while it may appear that keeping the big daddy stakeholders happy will put huge pressure on the business to make some drastic moves in the market, Raynor seems content that RSM Tenon can keep them happy by squeezing out the goodness from the fruits of its labour.