The new boss of Whitbread's 3,000 pubs and bars has arrived to look after the estate's handover to Morgan Grenfell Private Equity.
Ian Payne (pictured), who was at Bass for nearly 10 years, has been meeting with the existing management to decide the future strategy of the business.
Morgan Grenfell believes the £1.6bn acquisition will go ahead by May 15 despite the threat of a legal challenge from Punch.
Morgan Grenfell beat three rival bidders - Punch, Nomura Principal Finance and Pubmaster, which was working with venture capital group Candover (The Publican Newspaper , March 19).
But on March 22, Punch chairman Hugh Osmond said he was considering a legal challenge to scupper the deal.
Punch was backed by investor Bankers Trust, which agreed not to compete with Punch when it sold its stake in the pubco in 1999. Bankers Trust is now part of Deutsche Bank which owns Morgan Grenfell.
A spokeswoman for Osmond said: "We have written to Deutsche Bank but it has not responded, so we are considering what action we might take."
However, Jon Macintosh of Morgan Grenfell rejected Punch's claim, saying it was not covered by the clause.
Mr Payne, whose appointment was announced on Thepublican.com on March 23, started his career as a pub manager in Maidstone, Kent, before taking on senior management roles within Bass. He was most recently managing director of Ladbroke Casinos.
Further details of the senior management team have not been revealed but Pubs & Bars managing director Stewart Miller is moving to Whitbread's health club chain David Lloyd Leisure.
Unlike the other three bidders, Morgan Grenfell does not own any other pub companies, which means it will need much of the 20,000-strong workforce.
It is expected to convert many of the 1,300 managed houses to lease and sell some of the branded high street sites.
The head office will remain at Whitbread's Dunstable site for up to a year and a new base for the pub company will be found in the area. It is also keeping a service centre in Sheffield.
Whitbread lessees fight back (23 March, 2001)