Mitchells & Butlers knocked out of S&N pubs 29 Aug 2003 The perceived leader has been told it s out of the running for the pubs business, which is now likely to fetch more than £2.4bn. That may be good for M&B shareholders who feared it would overpay, want to see cash returned and may prefer their company to be a target.
S&N kicks off £2.3bn pubs auction 1 Jul 2003 And with a solid set of results behind it, the British brewer has a good chance of surpassing its asking price. New CEO Tony Froggatt must not see the balance sheet flexibility the sale brings as a blank cheque to do deals.
Six Continents continues to reject offers 27 Mar 2003 Until the pubs and hotels units test the market next month, there is no reason why it should. The demerging UK company turned down a £2.8bn bid for its Mitchells & Butlers pubs group. SixCon is clearly in no hurry to sell.
Osmond could net £1bn from SixCon 3 Mar 2003 That s what the entrepreneur and his team would make if they can deliver 20% a year growth in SixCon s share price That may look tough. But even at 10% a year, they would cream off over £400m. This is greedy.
Osmond finally goes hostile for SixCon 3 Mar 2003 Osmond has two weaknesses: the cash he is offering comes from SixCon's own coffers; and he will cream off a large chunk of the upside. But SixCon's management has a big drawback of its own: it is still there.
SixCon bidder in controversial scheme 23 Feb 2003 Hugh Osmond and his cronies were given warrants allowing them to own 12% of CMI's issued share capital. Even if he torpedoes the warrants, Osmond's credibility as a saviour for SixCon's shareholders will suffer a serious blow.
Osmond places giant personals ad 20 Feb 2003 His interest in SixCon could be rephrased: "Rich white male seeks partners". Osmond's plan to break up SixCon's hotels arm may have merits. But Osmond still needs to show the colour of his currency and spell out what price he wants to extract for himself.
Pizza Express mulls management buyout 16 Dec 2002 The UK restaurant chain turned down former coowner Hugh Osmond. Now management may be stepping in where he was stymied. Shareholders may not see a higher offer though.
Six Continents demerger is right plan, wrong time 5 Dec 2002 The separation of pubs and hotels is still a good idea, even though both are performing poorly. Others should follow suit. The problem is timing. As the businesses suffer, SixCon has been stingy with promised dividend payouts.
Pizza Express makes the worst of a bad market 12 Nov 2002 The UK pizza market is certainly overcrowded, but the company's solution launching new formats and products is the wrong one. It needs to focus on its core business.
Diageo has few alternatives to Burger King buyout 7 Nov 2002 Even though it s not a distressed seller, the spirits group will have to accept a haircut and plenty of strings attached to close the deal. What else can it do? The business isn t performing. An IPO is a nogo. And a demerger might value BK at about $1.5bn.