Rivals such as Whitbread have argued that S&N has got off lightly with the conditions

Rivals such as Whitbread have argued that S&N has got off lightly with the conditions. S&N shares fell 3p to 607p yesterday on fears that more may be added.Whitbread says it pulled out of talks because it feared the conditions attached to its bid would be too onerous. Foster’s says Whitbread only pulled out when Foster’s told it to.The Courage deal will enable S&N to become Britain’s larg-est brewer, ahead of Bass with 22 per cent. After failing to buy Scottish & Newcastle, Harvester and Chef and Brewer, Whitbread is known to be keen to flex its muscles.

Sir Michael Angus repeated the claims at Whitbread’s annual meeting last month.One analyst said: “It just sounds as though Foster’s is getting its own back.” Whitbread declined to comment.Investors yesterday expressed concerns that further conditions may be attached to Scottish & Newcastle’s bid before the deal wins DTI approval.The DTI has already asked S&N for assurances that it will cut its tied estate by 115 pubs and a pledge to release half of the Inntrepreneur estate from their supply agreements.Under the current terms, Inntrepreneur pubs must buy beer from Courage until March 1998. It appears that a personality conflict between Foster’s and Whitbread management made negotiations difficult.One brewing analyst felt that the announcement of the snub was little more than sour grapes as Whitbread has been vociferous in trying to block the deal, consistently requesting that the bid be referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. Yesterday’s admission comes as the DTI was expected to wave through Scottish & Newcastle’s pounds 425m offer in the next few days with minor conditions.
One of Foster’s reasons for refusing the Whitbread offer is certain to raise eyebrows. You’re exposed, defenceless, you can’t hear because of the running water I don’t like that situation.

It had never dawned on me before.”Ms Leigh didn’t have nightmares about it, but she still prefers a bathtub, “where I can see the door, the water’s not running, so I can hear everything”.Except for the 20 seconds or so of total horror as her character was being stabbed to death, she said, it was no great challenge And no, she wasn’t nude It was 1960. We cannot confirm we have received a bid from the new group (Mr Reichmann and Prince Alwaleed). We have no further comment.”Hong Kong’s Hwang brothers are understood to be rival bidders.. Foster’s, the Australian brewing group selling its Courage division to Scottish & Newcastle,turned down a significantly higher offer for the group from Whitbread.

Analysts yesterday said that his decision to combine with Mr Reichmann, whose investors’ group already includes American TV mogul Larry Tisch, may prove a powerful combination.Prince Alwaleed said: “Mr Reichmann and his team have a sound approach towards the project and we are delighted to be joining forces with them.”A spokesman for Lloyds Bank, which leads the 11-strong consortium, said: “We’ve received a number of unsolicited bids, but we are not prepared to reveal from whom. The Limehouse Link, Britain’s most expensive stretch of road, has made the area more accessible.Banks had to refinance Canary Wharf by pounds 1.1bn in September 1993, when they were owed a total of pounds 568m.Prince Alwaleed, who has extensive world-wide investments, including stakes in EuroDisney and Citicorp, emerged as a rival bidder last month. The deal was widely seen as a watershed letting for Canary Wharf, which has battled, sometimes acrimoniously, with the Corporation of London for blue-chip tenants.Property professionals now talk seriously about building the two-thirds of the development for which planning consent was given, but which, because of the recession, was never built.Development of the Jubilee Line extension, due to finish in 1998, is seen as the key to the future success of Canary Wharf, held back in its early days by poor communications. Now more than three-quarters let, the development, which includes Europe’s tallest tower, is fast gaining critical mass.BZW, the investment bank, recently announced it would be moving half its operation out of cramped accommodation in the City of London to the development. The price was rumoured to be pounds 800m but he refused to confirm this.Mr Reichmann, who developed projects such as the World Financial Centre in New York and First Canadian Place in Toronto, said: “Canary Wharf is a world-class project with a bright future.”"If we acquire Canary Wharf, joining forces with an investor of the calibre and resources of Prince Alwaleed will significantly increase the prospects for realising its full development potential.”Mr Reichmann is making his approach as Canary Wharf shakes off its white- elephant image. Paul Reichmann confirmed last night that he was leading a bid to buy back Canary Wharf, the flagship office development of the London docklands urban regeneration scheme he masterminded in the Eighties but saw go into receivership three years ago.