Robert Tchenguiz, the businessman who owns a stake in Somerfield, is considering a bid for Mitchells & Butlers.
M&B, the chain which owns pub-restaurant brands such as All bar One, Harvester and O'Neills, is valued at around £2.27 billion. Tchenguiz, who already owns a string of 400-plus pubs, including the Slug & Lettuce Chain, has been in discussions with other parties about the possibility of forming a consortium to bid for M&B.
M&B owns 1,267 pubs and a further 584 pub-restaurants, and has perfoemd well since a demerger in April 2003, when it floated on the stock market.
Analysts are already warning that a bid by Tchenguiz should be seen as unlikely, as a statement he made yesterday included a number of ifs and buts. The price tag is also considered high.
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