City Diary — 11 September

Red light for media comments​

What does hedge fund guru David Einhorn, who is Punch Taverns' biggest shareholder with a stake of 9.73%, make of the scrapping of the final dividend? Einhorn, who runs Greenlight Capital, an investment fund that boasts annualized returns of 27% going back 10 years, is famous for airing his views on investments he makes. His recent book, Fooling Some of the People All of the Time, ripped into financial regulators, Congress, auditors, boards of directors and investigative reporters. So City Diary thought it'd be worth dropping him a line. "I really don't plan to discuss this investment in the media," he replies, adding, "sorry about that."

A talent for talking turkey​

Einhorn has had a number of high-profile investment turkeys, including New Century Financial Corp. He served on the subprime lender's board until he resigned in March 2007. New Century sought bankruptcy protection less than a month later. Greenlight bought New Century shares at an average price of $27.66 and sold them for $3.30, though it received dividends. "Our analysis was subprime," he told his investors.

Einhorn's charity gamble pays off​

City Diary does like the sound of Einhorn. Last year, he wore his lucky sweatshirt emblazoned with the handprints of his wife and three children to finish in 18th place in the World Series of Poker's main event in Las Vegas. He won more than $650,000, which he donated to research on Parkinson's disease, a longtime cause of one of his investors, the actor Michael J Fox. According to the Chicago Tribune, his investors say Greenlight has a family-like atmosphere uncommon among hedge-fund firms. It reports: "It isn't unusual, for instance, to see Mr Einhorn's kids or the children of analysts and traders at the office. Greenlight's year-end letter to clients included announcements of one employee's wedding and the birth of another's first child — before noting Greenlight's five biggest long positions."

£25k up for grabs from Travelodge​

Competition for Marston's managed division Inns & Taverns is hotting up in Wadebridge, Cornwall. In March, Marston's Inns & Taverns was given the go-ahead by planners to build a £5m project, which includes a 39-bedroom hotel, public house and restaurant, and a 100-space car park. Now Travelodge wants a slice of the accommodation action in Wadebridge and has offered anyone who can find it a site a lump-sum payment of up to £25,000 — £500 for every room that is constructed. A Travelodge spokesperson said: "Our requirement for a 50-room hotel remains the same and we will pay up to £25,000 to any member of the public that finds a new hotel development site or existing building there which results in a Travelodge being built."

Partners sign up for Varsity V card​

City Diary hears managed operator Barracuda has recruited a number of brands including Domino's Pizza and EA Sports as this year's partners for the V Card, the student loyalty scheme run by Barracuda's bar chain Varsity. The brand partnerships include Play.com, Domino's Pizza, Blockbuster, Express by Holiday Inn, EA Sports, Audible.co.uk and Blyk. Partners will offer V Card owners exclusive deals in return for branding on 750,000 V Cards valid from September 2008 until 31 July next year. The Varsity V Card has 750,000 card holders, making it the UK's largest student loyalty scheme. Myles Doran, head of marketing of Barracuda Bars, says: "The V Card contributes an enormous ROI (return on investment) to the business and brand partners play a key role."

New name is all white for some​

Good to see Greene King restoring a more traditional pub name at its newly-acquired Spencer's in Cookham, Berkshire. Spencer's is currently closed for major refurbishment to extend the premises. It is due to open next month with a new name — White Oak. The news has not been welcomed by parish councillor David Ricardo, who wants owners to change the name to White Hart. This was the pub's old name before it got the Spencer's tag about 10 years ago.

Cains canned at Thatch & Thistle​

New leaseholders who have taken over at a former Cains pub owned by Punch Taverns have made radical changes already. They've changed the name from the Thatch Inn to the Thatch & Thistle. Ray Edwards and Adrian Chappell have also binned Cains beers. Adrian says that after Cains took on the pub around a year ago, its products came to dominate the selection, and this had proved unpopular with many punters. "We want to raise the standards, with a wider choice of lagers and bitters," says Adrian.