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What is Robert Tchenguiz up to? One minute everyone is muttering about his solvency and he’s been kicked out of the Sunday Times’ Guess Rich List. The next he turns up on the register of Whitbread (through contracts for difference) with a stake of 3 per cent - encouraging everyone to believe there is somehow a break-up bid in the offering.

Mr T’s R20 investment vehicle declared on economic interest in 5.5m Whitbread shares on Friday - an event that came to Markets Live pundit Neil Hume in a clairvoyant moment earlier this week on FT Alphaville.

One stray fact that seems noteworthy: R20 did not have to make this announcement. Whitbread is not in an offer period - so the reporting of derivative holdings such as this one are not subject to Panel rules. (Though we of course welcome such transparency.)

So how do you lose your shirt on Sainsbury, Mitchells & Butlers, SCi, etc, get demoted from the rankings of Britain’s 1,000 wealthiest and yet STILL manage to take a position worth close to £80m in a leisure conglomerate like Whitbread?

Well, an associate says that when people do the elementary maths on the losses suffered by Tchenguiz over recent months, onlookers tend to forget the fact that this financier booked some very good profits before the Crunch took hold. Look at Whyte & Mackay, look at Shell Mex House, look at his dealings in Iceland, we’re told.

And what about Whitbread? On that we will have to wait and see, although it seems unlikely that R20 is interested in anything other than the restaurants in the Whitbread portfolio. As for the Premier Inn hotels - speculative eyes turned on Friday to Dubai as shares in Whitbread advanced 22p to £13.94.

Mr T was on a plane to St Tropez and unavailable for comment.