M&B stake sale: good news or just another frying pan/fire scenario?

When I heard of the latest goings-on concerning Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) and Robert Tchenguiz I couldn't help conjuring up the following image: Tim Clarke, M&B's chief executive, leaning back in his chair in his Birmingham office, hands folded across his chest, his eyes closed, a serene smile on his face. Then the door bursts open and all but two of his executive board colleagues pile in, a-whooping and a-hollering and cracking open bottles of Special Edition Bass Pale Ale.

I doubt this is exactly how Clarke reacted to the news that Tchenguiz had sold most of his stake in the managed pub group. But I like to think it isn't far off.

The sale means M&B can put the nightmare of the last 18 months behind it, albeit a nightmare some believe was triggered by getting into bed with Tchenguiz in the first place. There was Tchenguiz's bid for the company, then the effort put towards becoming a real estate investment trust (REIT), fruitless as it turned out, and the resulting hedging loss worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

But that's in the past. M&B can now get on with the job of running some of the best managed pubs in the country. It still has issues, certainly, but crucially it appears to have regained strategy control. On the face of it M&B can say 'sod it' to the whole bloomin' REIT shenanigans.

Or can it? Tax exile billionaire Joe Lewis, who bought the stake, is well-known for his speculation in both the property and currency markets.

If he sees M&B as cheap and wants to watch the shares rise, all well and good. If, however, he's a believer in REITs as Tchenguiz was it may yet be a case of frying pans and fires for Tim Clarke and co.