Some confusion at Mitchells & Butlers, which is currently awaiting details of a possible bid from yacht loving billionaire Joe Lewis.
Under takeover panel rules, major shareholders in a business facing a bid must declare how much they own in an official statement. Elpida, the investment vehicle of horseracing tycoons JP McManus and John Magnier, duly stated on Monday they held a 20.7% stake.
All well and good. But a matter of hours later came another statement from Elpida, showing an aggregated stake of 24.2% for Elpida and Smoothfield - a company owned by another big name in the horseracing world Derrick Smith.
Given all the past controversy about supposed concert parties at M&B working together, the updated version looks interesting since it indicates Elpida and Smith are indeed acting together.
The Takeover Panel refused to comment on specific cases but it is known to monitor all such announcements carefully and is keen for any errors to be corrected immediately.
