Investor and MPs wade into Mitchells & Butlers boardroom battle

18 January 2010 by
Investor and MPs wade into Mitchells & Butlers boardroom battle

An institutional investor in pub operator Mitchells and Butlers (M&B) has stepped forward in a bid to intervene in a power struggle between the company and its biggest investors, including billionaire Joe Lewis.

The spat has seen continued disagreements over the composition of the company's board.

In an announcement to the City today, M&B said the Association of British Insurers (ABI) had written to it and indicated that it would accept a compromise agreement with Lewis's investment vehicle Piedmont.

The letter urged the company to accept some of Piedmont's nominations to the board, and recommended an election of all directors after 12 months on the basis of their performance.

Meanwhile, the Guardian reported this morning that MPs are also set to involve themselves in the conflict.

Liberal Democrat MP Vince Cable is writing to Adair Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), highlighting his concerns about the influence exercised over M&B by a group of shareholders.

And Labour MP John Grogan, chair of the all-party beer group, is expected to back an early day motion tomorrow, which will be backed by both Cable and Tory MP Nigel Evans.

The early day motion asks MPs to register "great concern" about "the apparent threat to the interests of 60,000 small shareholders in M&B". It alleges that a "small group of friends and minority shareholders domiciled outside the UK appear to be seeking to gain control of the company to advance their own interests at the expense of others".

Mitchells & Butlers fined £20,000 for food safety breaches >>

Takeover Panel finds no evidence of bid to seize control by M&B investors >>

Unrest continues between pub operator Mitchells & Butler and investor >>
By Neil Gerrard

E-mail your comments to Neil Gerrard here.

If you have something to say on this story or anything else join the debate at Table Talk - Caterer's new networking forum. Go to www.caterersearch.com/tabletalk

Caterersearch.com jobs
Looking for a new job? Find your next pub job here with Caterersearch.com jobs

Blogs on Caterersearch.com](http://www.caterersearch.com/blogs) Catch up with more news and gossip on all Caterer's blogs
[Newsletters For the latest hospitality news, sign up for our e-mail newsletters.
The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking