S&N is certainly pursuing shareholder value; but at what cost?
It may not have the legs of The Mousetrap, still going strong in London's West End after more than 50 years, but I suspect the increasingly bitter battle between Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) and the Carlsberg/Heineken-led consortium that wants to buy the UK brewer will run for quite some time.
Relations between S&N and Carlsberg, its Baltic Beverage Holdings (BBH) partner, are at rock bottom. S&N boss John Dunsmore could barely disguise his contempt for the Danish company at a press briefing last week, while Carlsberg is more than capable of delivering its own brand of barbed communiqué.
Effectively gagged from offering details of trading, S&N nevertheless trumpets BBH's prospects, with some justification.
Then there's Dunsmore's emphasis on leaving no stone unturned in the pursuit of value for S&N shareholders. In his comments to the press - which bore the hallmarks of an aspiring US presidential candidate - he acknowledged there had been a "lack of clarity" in S&N's recent endeavours, but insisted he was the Man For The Job.
That job, in the short term at least, is to win the BBH argument via the arbitration process S&N has kick-started in Sweden. In a 'double or quits' strategy, S&N plans to secure BBH altogether, or walk away from the venture. It firmly believes it will win. Both Carlsberg and Heineken beg to differ.
The consortium could raise its indicative offer, again. Or Carlsberg could simply cry: "Til helvede med det!" ("To hell with it!") and go hostile. S&N says its shareholders are supportive, but if the consortium tabled a third indicative offer of, say, 780p, would the cracks start to show?
It appears some have already. As one unconvinced fund manager and S&N shareholder said to me last week: "This has been coming for ages. S&N hasn't a cat in hell's chance of staying independent." Miaow.
