The Sunday Telegraph
PRIVATE EQUITY firm CVC Capital Partners is close to putting together a consortium to make a £6bn friendly cash bid for pub and hotel group Six Continents.
It is on the verge of signing a deal with Texas Pacific, one of the biggest private equity groups in the world and two international hotel groups, Marriott and Starwood. Read more on thePublican.com
The Sunday Times
THREE of Six Continents' top 10 shareholders want Wednesday's demerger vote to be postponed. Of 20 fund managers surveyed, 12 said they would vote for the demerger, four said they reject it and the remainder were undecided.
SHAREWATCH: "Shares in Scottish & Newcastle are at a 12-year low and look about as popular as a pint of Best the morning after the party. But there are a number of buyers who still have a taste for the stock, among them Trevor Hemmings, the leisure entrepreneur who hold s a 3.5 per cent stake.
"Hemmings is not a man to throw his money away and smart investors could do worse than follow his lead."
The Sunday Express
HUGH OSMOND is prepared to raise his bid for Six Continents to £6billion but only if shareholders force the leisure group to adjourn Wednesday's vote on a demerger. If they fail to delay the decision he will withdraw his bid entirely.
The Mail on Sunday
SIX CONTINENTS is bracing itself for a bold attempt by Hugh Osmond to gatecrash its demerger meeting with shareholders on Wednesday. He will demand an adjournment, forcing the hotels and pubs group to abandon the meeting.
IN a separate interview, 6Cs' chief executive Tim Clarke answers Hugh Osmond's scathing criticism that the leisure giant has paid too much for pubs and failing to invest in them: "It just shows how little he understands running pubs.
"Hugh is a very talented financial engineer and I have great respect for his skills on that front. But his suggestions about our investment record couldn't demonstrate more clearly how little he understands this business." Read more on thePublican.com THE stock market is braced to hit new lows this week after fears for the US economy and uncertainty over war in Iraq sent the FTSE 100 index into a slide last Friday.
UP to 70,000 companies will fail in the next three years, according to accountancy and advisor group BDO Stoy Hayward.
The Business
THE Business also carries the news that Hugh Osmond is prepared to raise his bid if shareholders vote against 6Cs' planned demerger this week. Although shareholders are unhappy with the performance of Six Continents so far, they remain unconvinced by Osmond's initial bid.
THISTLE Hotels is planning a £50m sale of three top London hotels to thwart the £554m expected bid from Singapore-based BIL. The hotel at London's Tower Bridge could alone be worth up to £200m.
The Independent on Sunday
THE IoS says leading investors in Six Continents are preparing to snub entrepreneur Hugh Osmond's £5.6bn hostile bid for the pubs and hotels group.
The Observer
After a week of frantic meetings in the City, both sides in the Six Continents v Osmond battle, claim to have won support from shareholders ahead of Wednesday's demerger vote.