Top jobs on the line in SixC fight

SIX Continents is considering ditching its senior management team as part of the pubs and hotels group's defence against a takeover bid expected to be tabled by entrepreneur Hugh Osmond this week.

Senior insiders in the Six Continents' camp are refusing to give the present management, which includes chairman Ian Prosser and hotels boss Richard North, their wholehearted backing after months of shareholder criticism.

One said: 'The question is, can this team deliver change, or does it require new management?'

Osmond's bid, expected within days, is likely to focus on the shortcomings of Six Continents' management.

Late last week, rumours circulated that headhunters had been appointed to seek out alternatives to the board. The source said: 'I am not aware of that, but it is not impossible.'

The Six Continents' board has been under fire from institutional investors for months as shareholders voiced their frustration about the way the company, which spans the Holiday Inns chain and All Bar One pubs, was being run. One shareholder said: 'Management has long been an issue, but Osmond has increased the pressure.

'People will have to question how proactive the management team is going to be to defend its position.'

Sources close to Osmond's listed company, Capital Management and Investment, say that a bid - consisting almost entirely of shares - will be tabled in the next few days. But such a move is likely to be rejected by Six Continents, leaving Osmond with the option of going hostile and approaching shareholders direct.

In which case, Six Continents would be expected to postpone its extraordinary general meeting, scheduled for March 12, called to approve a demerger of its pubs and hotels divisions.

However, there remain doubts as to whether a bid will be tabled by Osmond at all.

His offer was expected last week, but failed to materialise. As one shareholder put it: 'At the moment we've got no numbers, no details and no structure. We don't know whether the bid is going to be in cash, paper or a combination of both.'

And if Six Continents is prepared to consider changing its senior team, Osmond's bid could be in serious trouble.

A close friend of Osmond said: 'Hugh's biggest risk is that the shareholders decide that he's right, and vote to get rid of the management.'

Hugh Osmond will take 20% of any gains he generates from Six Continents' assets if his takeover bid for the hotels and pubs conglomerate is successful, the Sunday Telegraph has reported. The deal would bring him and his team more than £200m over the next two years.