WHITBREAD BID FOR ALLIED?
Whitbread is believed to have made a bid for the Allied Domecq pub estate, which is thought to be around £2.3bn for the 3,600 pubs
Having enjoyed exclusive negotiating terms with Allied Domecq for many weeks, Whitbread have always been favorites to clinch a deal which would make them Britain’s single biggest owner of inns, with more than 7,000 outlets.
Rival bids for the Allied Domecq estate have been prepared by Punch Taverns, who bought the Bass leased estate in April 1998, and Bass itself. Punch have backing from US private investment group Texas Pacific, and is ready to better Whitbread’s offer, which is awaiting shareholders approval.
However, the future of guest beers in the former Allied pubs would appear to be grim, and CAMRA is concerned that a new, larger Whitbread would have to sell off its three breweries to comply with the Beer Orders. There is concern that the Boddingtons Strangeways Brewery in Manchester could be causality.
Selling the breweries would also enable Whitbread to cancel the guest ale rights of Whitbread Pub Partnership tenants and the Vanguard Lessees. The net effect of a 7,000 strong concentration of buying power, commanding big discounts which would inevitably squeeze regional & micro-brewers out of the market.
In Issue 87 of Potters Bar
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