Punch/M&B: Punch drunk

Is it wrong to punch someone when they’re down? Mitchells & Butlers may think so. The UK pub group last week admitted it lost a whopping £274m on an aborted property joint venture, leaving its management discredited. Less than a week later, rival Punch Taverns has swooped in with a distinctly opportunistic-looking shares-and-cash takeover offer. Punch and M&B have eyed each other up before, drawn by the prospect of crunching together their managed estates – industry lingo for those pubs they o...