Blackpool Tower owner takes stake in M&B
Trevor Hemmings, the investor behind pub groups Trust Inns and Herald Inns & Bars, has taken a 3% stake in Mitchells & Butlers (M&B).
M&B is currently mulling a merger offer with rival Punch Taverns.
Hemmings owns approximately 600 pubs, including 102 pubs he bought from M&B in 2006 for £101m.
A property and racehorse tycoon, Hemmings is also the owner of Blackpool Tower, has a stake in Preston north end football club and a personal fortune worth close to £1b.
A representative for Hemmings told the Financial Times today that the stake in M&B was for investment purposes.
A deal proposing a combined Punch and M&B, which would own approximately 10,500 pubs, was unveiled last week.
Other shareholders in Britain's largest managed pub group include Robert Tchenguiz, who owns a 23% stake, and Irish racing tycoons John Magnier and JP McManus, who have built a 3.4 % stake in the O'Neils and All Bar One owner.
Read the full article on the FT here >>
Punch reports a drop in sales after smoking ban >>
By Christopher Walton
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