Hardys & Hansons brewery in takeover talks
Nottingham brewer and retailer Hardys & Hansons has admitted it is in the early stages of take-over discussions after a number of approaches.
Wolverhampton & Dudley (W&D) is one of the companies most likely to have made the approach.
Hardys shares rose by 32p or 4.37% to close at 765p on Monday before it admitted takeover talks had started. Other possible bidders for Hardys, which has 260 tenanted and managed pubs, include Greene King, GI Partners and Punch.
One analyst said: "W&D can't afford for anyone else to buy Hardys. I get the impression that W&D is desperate to do a deal with very little organic growth."
Oriel Securities Mark Brumby, said: "W&D would be amongst the companies with the most to gain. For the West Midlands brewer, territories are contiguous and there's more than enough capacity in Wolverhampton and Burton to shut down [Hardy's] Kimberley [site]."
Family shareholders at Hardys hold about 50% of the voting rights. Takeover speculation has surrounded Hardys since December when chief exec Tim Bonham left the company, to be replaced by retail director Jonathan Webster.
At its most recent results, Hardys reported a 2% increase in pre-tax profit to £7.5m for the 26 weeks to 31 March 2006. Last week, Hardys revealed that production director Iain Masson was leaving the company.
