Magic circle firms eye M&B pub chain sell-off
A raft of City firms, including Slaughter and May, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Allen & Overy (A&O), are in line to win roles on the potential sale of pub and restaurant company Mitchells & Butlers (M&B). The company, which owns chains such as Harvester and O'Neill's, last week (29 January) admitted it was open to offers after revealing a £274m post-tax loss from hedging an aborted property transaction with Robert Tchenguiz in 2007.
February 05, 2008 at 07:37 AM
2 minute read
A raft of City firms, including Slaughter and May, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Allen & Overy (A&O), are in line to win roles on the potential sale of pub and restaurant company Mitchells & Butlers (M&B).
The company, which owns chains such as Harvester and O'Neill's, last week (29 January) admitted it was open to offers after revealing a £274m post-tax loss from hedging an aborted property transaction with Robert Tchenguiz in 2007.
M&B has confirmed that it has already received several early approaches since announcing its strategic review, with Whitbread and Tchenguiz, as well as a number of private equity houses, touted as potential bidders.
Slaughters is advising Punch Taverns, which confirmed its interest in acquiring the group yesterday (4 February). Corporate partner David Johnson is leading the team for the elite City firm.
Tchenguiz, meanwhile, has already upped his stake in the company and is expected to increase it further before making a formal offer.
A&O is M&B's regular corporate adviser and the firm has worked on a stream of transactions for M&B in the past through relationship partners Susan Howard and David Broadley.
The pair advised on Tchenguiz's £4.6bn bid for M&B in 2006, with Howard also advising the company on its £497m acquisition of 239 pubs from Whitbread the same year. M&B has also used Eversheds in the past, with a role on the company's £101m sale of a portfolio of pubs to Trust Inns.
Freshfields advised Tchenguiz's R20 investment vehicle on last year's aborted joint venture with M&B, with corporate partner Edward Braham also advising the billionaire's investment vehicle on its failed bid for the pub group.
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