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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