Cannon has Eldridge Pope in his sights with £43m cash bid

Entrepreneur Michael Cannon has tabled a £43.3m cash bid for the Eldridge Pope pub company.

The offer of 171p per share represents an 11.8% premium on Eldridge Pope's closing share price on 8 September, the day before the companies announced they were in talks.

Eldridge Pope's board has backed the offer, saying it represents "attractive value" for shareholders.

Cannon's bid vehicle, Bidco, owns or has undertakings for 40.9% of Eldridge Pope's issued capital. The Dorset-based pub company has 174 managed and tenanted pubs in the South of England, but has failed to produce the profits shareholders would like. Outgoing chief executive Sue Barrat has been following a back-to-basics strategy since 2003 but success has been slow.

In May Eldridge Pope reported that interim turnover had fallen 8.3% year-on-year to £31.2m. This resulted in a loss of £909,000.