THE Dusanj brothers will become the next owners of Liverpool brewer Cains, as the deal to take the company out of administration is finalised this weekend.
As revealed in the Daily Post yesterday, the duo have been in advanced talks to regain control of the brewer, which they have run since 2002.
The deal, which is expected to go through in the next 48 hours, will secure the future of the Toxteth brewery and its retail division of pubs.
The brothers have already registered a company – DRC Beer Company, with the initials standing for Dusanj Robert Cain – which currently has two directors, the brothers’ wives, Balginder and Nirmal.
It follows their practice of creating complicated company structures which allowed them to profit above their annual salaries.
The brewer’s accounts reveal that, in the last full accounting period, between September, 2006, and October, 2007, more than £54,000 a month flowed from Cains to the family businesses.
This was possible because of the way the brothers changed the ownership of the Cains brewery and pubs.
Stanhill Investments, whose only shareholders were the brothers and their wives, owned Cains Beer Company before the brothers bought the shares of the brewer from Stanhill, in May, 2006.
But the ownership of the brewery and some pubs was retained by Stanhill.
The beer company paid rent on these properties to Stanhill and another family company, Wayhill Investments. In the 14-month period to October, 2007, which saw Cains lose £2.8m, a total of £763,000 was paid to the Dusanj family and their companies.
Rent and service charges of £492,000 were paid to Stanhill Investments and £6,000 rent was paid to Wayhill Investments.
As chief executive, Sudarghara Dusanj received £104,000 in salary and benefits and Ajmail Dusanj, chief operating officer, received £93,000. The previous year, the pair earned £49,000 each.
Meanwhile, their wives were paid £34,000 each for the same 14-month period. In the years to August, 2005 and 2006, they were each paid £31,000 and £24,000 respectively.
During the administration process, the Dusanj brothers also sought to make a clean-break agreement with potential new owners over the ownership of the brewery and the pubs they held.
They demanded £24m to sell their related interests held in companies outside of the ones that are being operated by administrators.
The brothers’ ownership of the brewery freehold also had an impact on potential new owners. A lease clause set the rent for the brewery and associated properties at £1m for other owners, which doubled the current rate being paid.
Cains went into administration six weeks ago to avoid a winding-up petition that was issued by HM Revenue and Customs after the firm was unable to pay tax bills.
Its troubles stemmed from a reverse takeover of Honeycombe Leisure in 2007, which saw Cains take on £40m of debt.
It was paying £200,000-a-month to service the debt, while pub sales fell 15% during the half-year to April .
alex.turner
