Fuller goes on the attack in its bid for Capital Pubs
BREWER Fuller, Smith and Turner yesterday returned fire in a war of words over its bid for Capital Pub Company.
Fuller, brewer of London Pride and operator of 360 pubs, has made a 200p per share takeover bid for Capital worth £54m.
Capital rejected the offer, dismissing it as too low.
Fuller is now moving closer to a hostile bid that would seek to persuade shareholders to turn against founder and chief executive Clive Watson.
It criticised Capital’s trading performance and its business strategy.
Fuller, under chairman Michael Turner, said Capital’s growth plan “has considerable risks associated with its execution which could dilute the overall quality and attractiveness of the estate”.
It added: “It has taken Capital over 10 years to grow its estate to 34 pubs and Fuller’s believes that the strategy to grow the estate by a further 11 to 16 pubs over the next two years has considerable risks.”
Watson rebuffed the offer and said the group is confident of a profitable expansion under its existing growth plans.