One of the UK’s largest pub chains, Punch Taverns PLC (LON:PUB), looks set to become the subject of a bidding war after it told investors it has received two takeover offers.
Dutch brewing giant Heineken has made an offer of 174p per share, while one of Punch’s founders, Alan McIntosh, is behind the other 185p a share bid.
Predictably, shares in Punch gained more than 40% to 180p, with the markets seemingly pricing in either a McIntosh victory or a second, improved offer from Heineken.
McIntosh’s proposal is conditional on confirmatory due diligence being carried out, arranging committed financing and receiving the backing of the Punch board.
Punch has an estate of more than 3,000 pubs across the UK.
Any tie-up with Heineken, which itself owns 1,100 leased pubs across the country, would likely come under scrutiny from competition regulators.
Last month Punch reported its first annual profit for three years, having reached the conclusion of a disposal programme designed to reduce its hefty debt pile.
The turnaround in the company’s performance under new chief executive Duncan Garrod comes after years of restructuring, which included the demerger of managed pubs business Spirit which was later snapped up by Greene King PLC (LON:GNK).