Managers at Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries know they now have the tough task of delivering on the promises they made to shareholders in their successful defence against the hostile £485m bid from Pubmaster.
The majority of City analysts believe Wolves will still lose its independence before long, with a merger with Greene King the most likely picture. Tim Bridge, Greene King's chief executive, has already suggested the idea and the two groups continue on good terms.
The pressure Wolves now faces was shown immediately after Pubmaster admitted its bid had failed, as the brewer's shares plummeted 36.5p, hitting 457.5p, before recovering to 469p, 25p down on the day and 44p less than Pubmaster's offer. They ended the week at 478p, 16p down.
Tom Shrager of Tweedy Browne, the American investor company, which has a stake of almost 5% in Wolves, and which backed Pubmaster, said: "Apparently the majority of the shareholders like to lose money. They could have had 513p cash."
In its defence submissions, Wolves promised to return £200m to shareholders before 2003, dispose of two of four breweries, and sell 170 pubs, including the 40 or so Pitcher & Piano bars.
One analyst said: "The problem as always with a hostile bid is that you've laid all your cards out for the world to see and the City will be ticking off all the boxes to see if they fail."
Greg Feehely, an analyst at Old Mutual, said: "The key issue is where people see the shares trading. Wolves must absolutely execute the defence document line by line."
Wolves said it would return the first £100m to shareholders at no less than 491p a share by the end of this year. The sale of Pitcher & Piano is vital to this: Regent Inns is understood to have offered £67m, against £65m said to be on offer from SFI.
After the disposals, the sale of the Cameron's brewery in Hartlepool and the closure of the Mansfield brewery, Wolves will be left with two breweries instead of the four it had a year ago, and a chain of 550 managed pubs and just over 1,000 tenanted pubs. Wolves, which took over Mansfield and Marston Thompson and Evershed in 1999, has already sold 800 pubs in the past three years.
Nigel Popham, an analyst at Teather & Greenwood, said the company had now got its act together, and could reap the benefits of consolidating three substantial businesses. He was confident that, once the short-term shareholders speculating on a takeover had been shaken out, the shares would rise "well north of 513p over the next 12 months".
The majority of City analysts believe Wolves will still lose its independence before long, with a merger with Greene King the most likely picture. Tim Bridge, Greene King's chief executive, has already suggested the idea and the two groups continue on good terms.
The pressure Wolves now faces was shown immediately after Pubmaster admitted its bid had failed, as the brewer's shares plummeted 36.5p, hitting 457.5p, before recovering to 469p, 25p down on the day and 44p less than Pubmaster's offer. They ended the week at 478p, 16p down.
Tom Shrager of Tweedy Browne, the American investor company, which has a stake of almost 5% in Wolves, and which backed Pubmaster, said: "Apparently the majority of the shareholders like to lose money. They could have had 513p cash."
In its defence submissions, Wolves promised to return £200m to shareholders before 2003, dispose of two of four breweries, and sell 170 pubs, including the 40 or so Pitcher & Piano bars.
One analyst said: "The problem as always with a hostile bid is that you've laid all your cards out for the world to see and the City will be ticking off all the boxes to see if they fail."
Greg Feehely, an analyst at Old Mutual, said: "The key issue is where people see the shares trading. Wolves must absolutely execute the defence document line by line."
Wolves said it would return the first £100m to shareholders at no less than 491p a share by the end of this year. The sale of Pitcher & Piano is vital to this: Regent Inns is understood to have offered £67m, against £65m said to be on offer from SFI.
After the disposals, the sale of the Cameron's brewery in Hartlepool and the closure of the Mansfield brewery, Wolves will be left with two breweries instead of the four it had a year ago, and a chain of 550 managed pubs and just over 1,000 tenanted pubs. Wolves, which took over Mansfield and Marston Thompson and Evershed in 1999, has already sold 800 pubs in the past three years.
Nigel Popham, an analyst at Teather & Greenwood, said the company had now got its act together, and could reap the benefits of consolidating three substantial businesses. He was confident that, once the short-term shareholders speculating on a takeover had been shaken out, the shares would rise "well north of 513p over the next 12 months".
