Freehold estate

My seventh blog handles about Joe Lewis, the Bahamas-based billionaire. He has gained a seat on the board of Mitchells & Butlers after becoming the biggest shareholder. Lewis will be represented on the board of the pub group by an appointee after the currency tycoon raised his stake in M&B to 22.9% through his Piedmont investment company.Lewis, who lost $1.2bn from a bet in Bear Stearns shares that went spectacularly wrong, is believed to be interested in the property aspects of M&B's mainly freehold estate.Other interested parties include the Irish tycoons, John Magnier and JP McManus, who own 17.6% of M&B through their Elpida vehicle. The property tycoon, Robert Tchenguiz, is out of the picture after nursing heavy losses in the wake of the collapse of Icelandic bank Kaupthing, which forced him to sell his stakes in M&B and other companies. Analysts at KBC Peel Hunt said the appointment of Lewis's representative, Richard McGuire, to the M&B board "potentially increases the prospect of asset sales, which could bring forward the restoration of the dividend. However, opportunities for asset sales are clearly limited".A further board representative of Lewis could be appointed under an agreement struck between M&B and the investor, provided his share holding is above 22%.

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jul/16/joe-lewis-on-board-at-mitchells-and-butler

Steven