Punch has written to the Office of Fair Trading, urging it to block the disposal of Whitbread's breweries on the grounds that this would violate the Beer Orders. Whitbread refutes this suggestion but its offer for the pubs is conditional on approval by the OFT, which will give its verdict on 14 July.. EDWARD RODERICK, chief executive of Christian Salvesen, has discussed a management buyout of the venerable transport and logistics company with US private equity specialists, according to City brokers. The news comes on top of fresh rumours of a bid for the company, coinciding with a rise in its share price from 83p in mid-April to 130p at the close on Friday. "There is no consideration being given to the company going private - currently," Mr Roderick said, while not denying the talks had taken place.City brokers say Mr Roderick also held a general philosophical discussion about management buyouts with Jonathan Michael Fry, Salvesen chairman, this spring. On Friday, Mr Fry said: "There is no plan for a management buyout, or almost none, that's been communicated to me."Mr Fry attributed the rise in Salvesen's share price to an upward re- rating of companies the size of Salvesen in general, and to Salvesen's diversification into continental European markets in particular.

In May, Salvesen bought Gerposa, a Spanish transport and logistics company, for pounds 66.6m.City brokers say Mr Fry made it clear to Mr Roderick that executives planning to launch management buyouts should resign from their positions first on the grounds that, if they did not, a conflict of interest might arise between their own interest and that of shareholders."That is indeed my position," Mr Fry said on Friday.Alastair Gunn, a transport and logistic company research analyst at Credit Lyonnais who issued a buy note on Salvesen last week, said the company was a logical bid target in a rapidly consolidating sector.But he cast cold water on the idea of a management buyout. "The current management only came in two years ago," he said. "The company would be better off in doing the right thing by the City and building its business or going for a bid from outside," he said.Three years ago, Salvesen fought off a hostile pounds 1.2bn bid from the distribution, recruitment and office-support services rival Hays. The bid did not appeal to the 500 members of the Salvesen family in the UK and Scandinavia who control approximately 40 per cent of the company's shares.To fight off the bid, Salvesen spun off its power-hire business, Aggreko. But the family, led by 57-year-old Alastair Salvesen, who owns an estimated 7.5 per cent of the company, remains the dominant force in the company.City brokers say some members of the Salvesen family would be willing to sell their stakes in the company, but that such a sale would crystallise enormous capital gains.

"Many of the shares have been passed down the generations at a book value of 3p or 4p," one said.Salvesen family members would like to roll their company into a new owner offering paper generating a safe, solid return, City brokers say. "It's an extraordinarily difficult situation for the professional management," one broker said.. WAL-MART'S bid for Asda is running into concerted opposition from a number of groups preparing submissions for the Office of Fair Trading. At the forefront is the Council for the Preservation of Rural England (CPRE), which is concerned that the giant American retailer will find a way to avoid out-of-town planning restrictions for its huge stores. Wal-Mart has remained tight-lipped about its plans for Asda should the deal go ahead.The Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions has maintained that it is committed to its policy which restricts development of the large out-of-town stores that Wal-Mart favours in the US.But Neil Sinden, head of planning at the CPRE, fears the US giant will overdevelop current retail sites: "Wal-Mart may be looking at redeveloping large existing stores. We are very concerned about the potential impact in terms of urban sprawl, traffic, damaging land and economic networks. The other danger is that they might find loopholes in the current policy framework.

Wal-Mart could be devastating for high streets."Linda Douglas, chief executive of Action for Market Towns, an organisation with 230 members, said: "We are concerned that they will put pressure on the Government to relax out-of-town retail developments of the kind which have upset towns. We will be writing to the relevant minister."The announcement that Asda had agreed a pounds 6.7bn bid from Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, came on Monday and was greeted with widespread surprise.Wal-Mart had previously indicated its unwillingness to buy a British supermarket and Asda was in the closing stages of a merger with Kingfisher. Although Wal-Mart's arrival is expected to trigger lower supermarket prices, there is monopolistic concern at the company's ability to exert huge pressure on its suppliers.The other big supermarket chains - Safeway, Sainsbury and Tesco - are expected to voice their concern about the threat that Wal-Mart will start a price war. But Asda's main suppliers are unwilling to speak out for fear of antagonising Wal-Mart.There is also concern about Wal-Mart's attitude to trade unions. Its 815,000 employees in the US are banned from membership.Asda, by contrast, has developed a good relationship with its main union, the GMB, and its employee share ownership scheme has been acclaimed.One retail source said: "I think Wal-Mart will offer Asda employees a cash alternative for their shares. The last thing they want is a lot of staff turning up at their agm."However, Derek Hunter, national secretary for the GMB's food and leisure section, said: "We have called for a meeting with Asda, but we are not pre-judging anything."MPs on either side of the House of Commons have also joined the chorus of disapproval.

John Redwood, Conservative spokesman for the environment, transport and the regions, said: "I am worried about the Government coming under pressure, knowing they will get cheaper food if they relax their planning policy. And what is the exact definition of out-of-town? I want them to be honest about it."Labour ex-minister Joan Ruddock was worried about the implications for planning policy: "Wal-Mart's bid for Asda appears to fly in the face of the Government's commitment to restricting road traffic densities."LEADER, MAIN SECTION, P28. I could always see one particular moment in my future: me, sitting on the Old Actors' Home Porch (known here in GB as Ye Olde Actors' Home) with my teeth in a jar across the room, and croaking to Nurse Wiggly, "I played the West End, dearie, did you know?" And she would smile and give me some extra food. It was a reminiscence of something that hadn't happened yet, if that isn't too confusing. Some actors yearn for Riches, some for Fame, some for groupies who look like Elizabeth Hurley. Me too, I'm not an idiot, but I also yearn for the West End, London Theatre, Gielgud, Olivier Legitimacy Tradition. It's an ancient desire - it made coming here to "tread the boards" this year an easy decision to make.