Fuller's beaten to the bar as Greene King secures Capital Pubs
The chief executive of the Capital Pub Company is set for a lucrative windfall after the operator of 34 upmarket pubs in London agreed to a £93m takeover by Greene King, the pub and brewing company.
Clive Watson, who is also Capital's co-founder, holds a 9 per cent stake and therefore stands to pocket about £6.3m if the 235p a share bid is approved by shareholders. If it goes through, he has not yet decided if he will step down.
Non-executive David Bruce, who co-founded Capital in 2000, will receive more than £2m. Greene King's recommended offer – which values Capital's equity at £70m and implies an enterprise value of £93m – is significantly higher than the 200p a share bid made by Fuller, Smith & Turner in June, which Capital swiftly rejected.
The offer represents a 51 per cent premium to the 155.5p closing price for Capital on 16 June, which was the day before the offer period began.
Greene King, which brews IPA, Old Speckled Hen and Abbot Ales, has received "irrevocable undertakings" from more than a third of Capital's shareholders that they will accept the offer.
Fuller's appeared to throw in the towel yesterday when it said it has "no intention to make an offer for Capital". Greene King said it expects to deliver £2m of cost savings from the acquisition of Capital.
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