What the Sunday Papers Say - August 12

Related tags Dudley breweries Takeover

The ObserverThe scrapping of licensing hours by the Isle of Man government has led to a reduction in late-night violence and disorder. A month after...

The Observer

The scrapping of licensing hours by the Isle of Man government has led to a reduction in late-night violence and disorder. A month after the Manx government liberalised its licensing hours, the number of drink-related disturbances has fallen and the first two weekends under the new system were actually two of the quietest weekends of the year. Jersey and Guernsey are reported to be thinking of following the Isle of Man's example while the Manx government is said to be considering legalising cannabis. Read more on this issue from thePublican.com

Pubmaster looks poised to acquire Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries after sources in the pub industry reported that the company had secured more votes among Wolves investors for its £485m hostile bid. Shareholders will find out later today, when the count is finished, whether Wolves has been successful in fighting off the bid.

Small business owners whose livelihoods have been hit by the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak are continuing to suffer and are beginning to blame farmers for their situation. Licensees, restaurateurs and hoteliers say they are innocent victims but have had no help from the Government. Many of them are accusing farmers of deliberately spreading the disease in order to claim compensation. They complain that the Government has so far paid farmers more than £1bn in compensation, which is many times the amount offered to rural businesses. Those running businesses in rural areas have warned the situation will only get worse as winter draws in. Read more on this issue from thePublican.com

Sunday Express

David Thompson, chairman of Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries, is said to be waiting to hear whether he still has a job as the deadline for a decision on the hostile takeover bid from Pubmaster nears. The Express predicts Pubmaster will oust Mr Thompson if its bid is accepted when the deadline expires today (Monday), although it says analysts believe shareholders remain divided. The Campaign for Real Ale is backing Mr Thompson because it fears Pubmaster would shut local breweries if its bid is successful.

Independent on Sunday

An investigation into lunchtime drinking by the Independent has been sparked by a report that three-quarters of employers are considering random drink and drugs testing and a ban on drinking alcohol at lunchtime. The investigation concludes that "attitudes have changed" and lunchtime drinkers are already few and far between. Read more on this issue from thePublican.com

A British couple, Jane and Steve Skews, have set up a brewery in Normandie, France, brewing traditional real ale. They claim the venture, named "Le-Brewery", is the first of its kind and has already attracted interest from bars and supermarkets across the region.

The Sunday Times

Brazil's second-largest brewer could be bought by South African Breweries in a deal worth more than £350m. SAB is negotiating to buy Kaiser, which is controlled by Coca-Cola. It is in competition with Heineken, which already owns a 15 per cent stake. SAB sources are confident it will win the bid. Analysts had hoped it could tie up a £7.5b merger with Scottish & Newcastle but that now appears unlikely, after S&N executives visited South Africa in February to discuss the prospect of a merger. The talks produced nothing concrete and S&N now seems convinced that a deal would not be in its shareholders' best interests.

3i, the venture capital firm, has paid £24m for a stake in nightclub Ministry of Sound. The club's founder James Palumbo announced the deal last week. It gives 3i just less than a 20 per cent stake in the business and the money raised will be used for acquisitions in music and media and a push into America. Mr Palumbo approached five venture-capital houses in April and six weeks ago 3i took up the deal on an exclusive basis.

The Sunday Telegraph

The Sunday Telegraph says that readers who followed its advice to buy Wolverhampton & Dudley shares are sitting on a tidy profit. The paper advised buying the shares at 432p in March as the long-running battle by Pubmaster to take over W&DB dragged on. Last week the shares closed at 494p. The result of the 513p-a-share cash bid by rival Pubmaster will be known by this afternoon (Monday). If shareholders back the incumbent management, led by chairman David Thompson, then the share price is likely to fall.

Weekend FT

A non-executive director of Pubmistress, the company pub operator Pubmaster is using in its battle to win a hostile takeover of Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries, bought 350,000 of the brewer's shares last week. The FT claims Robert Tchenguiz paid £1.7m for the shares is a desperate last-minute bid to win support for the Pubmaster offer before today's deadline.

The FT looks at the port industry as Diageo decides to put port brands Sandeman and Croft on the market. Analysts claim Diageo wants to concentrate on its core brands, including Smirnoff vodka and Gordon's gin. Port, which is often matured for 40 years, offers less immediate returns on investment for multi-national players such as Diageo. Scotland on Sunday

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