The Sunday Times
THERE have been enough whispers in recent weeks to indicate there will be no shortage of buyers to scour Six Continents' demerger details next month.
The group wants to split its hotels from its pubs but the big question is whether it will stand by the plan or take the highest cash bid.
The 2,000-plus pub arm would be highly attractive to a venture-capital buyer but shareholders should take a long-term view and back the management team led by Tim Clarke.
There have been enough pub millionaires created in recent years to remind institutional investors they can be left badly out of pocket if they sell out too early.
ENTERPRISE INNS is the share tip of the year from newly appointed Sunday Times business editor William Lewis. The former FT hack says that with strong cashflow and good growth prospects, Britain's biggest landlord has a lot more to give.
The Mail on Sunday
INVESTORS are said to be incensed that Gerry Robinson, Allied Domecq's new £200,000-a-year non-exec chairman has failed to engage them. Allied say the former Granada boss is still learning the ropes nine months after his appointment.
BREWING and pubs giant Scottish & Newcastle is named as one of the top performers of the FTSE100 last year. S&N recently announced a 28 per cent rise in interim profits and raised the dividend by three per cent.
ONE of the most distinctive names in the restaurant trade could die out after hopes of selling Aberdeen Steak Houses faltered. The remaining 16 sites were to go to a single buyer but the deal has fallen through.
SENIOR executives at BSkyB are prepared to pay up to £1bn to retain the exclusive rights to show live Premier League football matches.
The Sunday Telegraph
WHITBREAD, the leisure group, is seeking to sell up to 60 Beefeater restaurants as part of a far-reaching review of the under-performing chain. Whitbread is also considering retiring the Beefeater name.
THE number of profit warnings soared by 20 per cent to 105 in the final quarter of 2002, compared with the previous three months, bringing the total for the year to 350.
The Independent on Sunday
LAST week, the management team of Signature Restaurants, the group that owns the famous Ivy in London's West Endoffered to buy the group for 60p per share and made its bid in conjunction with Park Place Capital, a hedge fund that already owns 29.5 per cent stake in Signature.
The Business
FAST food giant Burger King has expanded its relationship with Coca-Cola, making the soft drinks group its supplier in international markets. Coke will gain access to Burger King customers in about 3,000 more outlets in Europe, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region.
BRITAIN'S budget deficit is on course to reach three per cent of gross domestic product, considerably more than forecast by the government.
The Observer
A man who was murdered by a lone gunman in a city pub on Friday was identified yesterday as Edward Byrne, 66, a married father of three. Byrne from West Derby in Liverpool, was killed by a single shot to the head.
The Sunday Express
No industry-related news.