Ex-Carlton counsel joins old team for media venture

Former Carlton Communications general counsel David Abdoo has re-emerged in partnership with his old boss Michael Green and two other former directors in the media group as a management team in waiting for a successful acquisition.

Abdoo and Green have teamed up with former Carlton financial director Paul Murray and the broadcaster’s former strategy and development director Piers Caldecote to target various companies in the media sector through Green’s Tangent Industries vehicle.

Abdoo and his fellow executives left Carlton following its 2003 merger with Granada.

Green is reported to have tendered bids for the UK’s largest cinema chain Odeon and the third-largest, United Cinemas International (UCI).

The sale of Odeon, managed by Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, and the UCI disposal by Vivendi Universal and Paramount Pictures, have also drawn the attention of Guy Hands’ investment group Terra Firma.

While law firms have not yet been instructed for Tangent’s potential acquisitions, Abdoo has a particularly strong relationship with Slaughter and May.