Shares in Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) remained steady today as press reports spoke of a move by Robert Tchenguiz to sell his 23 per cent holding in the managed pub group.
The stock rose a penny to 339.25p this morning after the Daily Telegraph reported that Tchenguiz's R20 group had been in talks with Trafalgar Asset Managers, a hedge fund, with a view to selling his stake.
The newspaper said Tchenguiz's right-hand man, Aaron Brown, met Trafalgar bosses last week, to discuss the potential for a deal taking place and the current trading situation in the pub sector.
The paper also noted that "some observers" expressed the view that the hedge fund rarely bought large stakes in public companies and would be surprised if a sale to the group would take place.
The news that Tchenguiz may be looking to sell his interest came as M&B launched a move to acquire Punch Taverns' 880-strong managed pub estate, Spirit Group, funded by selling a minority stake in the company, possibly to a private equity firm.
Punch is understood to be in talks with private equity firms to seek an alternative to its own proposal to merge with M&B, which it withdrew at the end of March.
City insiders have claimed that M&B would have to come up with a "knock-out offer" to prise Spirit away from Punch, while others have remarked that if properly funded a deal could trigger a rise in both groups' shares.