McMullen & Sons, the Hertford-based brewer and pub owner threatened with a break-up after disgruntled family shareholders demanded access to their locked-in capital, is likely to find enough property to sell to satisfy the rebels and keep the company intact.
A property review being conducted by the company's financial advisers is expected to uncover enough spare buildings and land to dispose and free money that can be used to pay off family members who want out.
The brewery site itself is estimated to be worth £50m, and McMullens owns considerable amounts of property in its home town, where it has been operating for 175 years. In addition its pub estate, almost entirely in affluent areas in Hertfordshire, Essex and North London, is regarded as generally of very good quality, while it also owns several very valuable Central London pubs, including the £10m Nag's Head in Covent Garden and the Spice of Life in Cambridge Circus.
McMullens' chairman, David McMullen, and his nephew Fergus, now in charge of brewing at the company, are known to be fighting to find ways to keep the family company going. The dissident shareholders are led by David's cousin, Ian McMullen.
A property review being conducted by the company's financial advisers is expected to uncover enough spare buildings and land to dispose and free money that can be used to pay off family members who want out.
The brewery site itself is estimated to be worth £50m, and McMullens owns considerable amounts of property in its home town, where it has been operating for 175 years. In addition its pub estate, almost entirely in affluent areas in Hertfordshire, Essex and North London, is regarded as generally of very good quality, while it also owns several very valuable Central London pubs, including the £10m Nag's Head in Covent Garden and the Spice of Life in Cambridge Circus.
McMullens' chairman, David McMullen, and his nephew Fergus, now in charge of brewing at the company, are known to be fighting to find ways to keep the family company going. The dissident shareholders are led by David's cousin, Ian McMullen.
