Shareholders in Whitbread are likely to press for the hospitality giant to spin off its 400 pub-restaurants and turn itself into a tax-efficient Real Estate Investment Trust, according to The Mail on Sunday.
Property entrepreneur Robert Tchenguiz, who revealed last week that he had built a 3% stake in the company, and Asif Aziz, who has won permission for a budget hotel at the Trocadero centre in central London, are both believed to back the move.
Whitbread has only £400m of debt, which is unusually low for a business of its size and gives it strategic options such as acquisitions or a tie-up with beleaguered Mitchells &Butlers, in which Tchenguiz has a 27% stake.
However it is thought unlikely that Whitbread chief executive Alan Parker would welcome pressure from investors to change the shape of the business.
The Mail on Sunday 11/05/08 page 62 (Financial)
