When you're down, expect to get kicked. That's certainly true for City Centre Restaurants these days, with stock market pundits warming to the task of putting the boot into the multi-brand restaurant operator.
Last week, City Centre, which is in the the throes of a strategic review following the resignation of chief executive James Naylor, confirmed it had rejected a £127m bid, widely thought to have come from PizzaExpress û a move predicted by M&C Report Online News some week's back.
The City's blunt response was to say that CCR should now be valued more for its real estate than for future prospects of its 300 branded restaurants.
Stuart Price at Credit Suisse First Boston says future growth is "susceptible to disappointment," as competition in the sector is intense and City Centre's portfolio has little brand capital. Ouch!
Another pundit predicts that the company cannot expect a bid better than this week's 65p a share valuation.
The operational truth about City Centre, however, is that among the mess left by the failure to swiftly sell-off Deep Pan Pizza are some sound brands, especially in the Italian market, talented operational leaders and a strategy to exploit travel and retail opportunities that has already produced returns.
But, that will make little difference now. City sentiment is against it and the only certainty seems that CCR cannot continue as a listed company for much longer. The alternatives are a successful bid from a bigger player, a private equity sale, linked to a management buy-out, or a break-up with the likes of Bass joining PizzaExpress for the best bits.
Of course, the other piece of bad news for CCR last week was that Whitbread is to sell off 140 of its restaurant sites û which will do little to help property sale prices.
• Tense times in Wolverhampton:
Lines of communication are said to be strained within the upper echelons of Wolverhampton & Dudley.
David Thompson and Ralph Findlay are understood to be close to finalising plans for a management buy-out of the troubled regional brewer û though financial backing is not yet in place.
However, they don't seem to have been informed in advance about last week's news that 850 W&D tenancies are being marketed separately by NM Rothschild. That decision appears to have come from the non-executives on the board, eager to generate maximum shareholder value from the current situation. As potential bidders the executives are being kept at arms length û not a situation David Thompson will be used to.
• See Wolves puts 850 tenancies on market
• See Wolves investors grow nervous
Last week, City Centre, which is in the the throes of a strategic review following the resignation of chief executive James Naylor, confirmed it had rejected a £127m bid, widely thought to have come from PizzaExpress û a move predicted by M&C Report Online News some week's back.
The City's blunt response was to say that CCR should now be valued more for its real estate than for future prospects of its 300 branded restaurants.
Stuart Price at Credit Suisse First Boston says future growth is "susceptible to disappointment," as competition in the sector is intense and City Centre's portfolio has little brand capital. Ouch!
Another pundit predicts that the company cannot expect a bid better than this week's 65p a share valuation.
The operational truth about City Centre, however, is that among the mess left by the failure to swiftly sell-off Deep Pan Pizza are some sound brands, especially in the Italian market, talented operational leaders and a strategy to exploit travel and retail opportunities that has already produced returns.
But, that will make little difference now. City sentiment is against it and the only certainty seems that CCR cannot continue as a listed company for much longer. The alternatives are a successful bid from a bigger player, a private equity sale, linked to a management buy-out, or a break-up with the likes of Bass joining PizzaExpress for the best bits.
Of course, the other piece of bad news for CCR last week was that Whitbread is to sell off 140 of its restaurant sites û which will do little to help property sale prices.
• Tense times in Wolverhampton:
Lines of communication are said to be strained within the upper echelons of Wolverhampton & Dudley.
David Thompson and Ralph Findlay are understood to be close to finalising plans for a management buy-out of the troubled regional brewer û though financial backing is not yet in place.
However, they don't seem to have been informed in advance about last week's news that 850 W&D tenancies are being marketed separately by NM Rothschild. That decision appears to have come from the non-executives on the board, eager to generate maximum shareholder value from the current situation. As potential bidders the executives are being kept at arms length û not a situation David Thompson will be used to.
• See Wolves puts 850 tenancies on market
• See Wolves investors grow nervous
