What the Sunday papers said

Inevitiably, the planned £7.4bn takeover of Allied-Domecq by Pernod Ricard dominates the weekend business pages​:

Patrick Ricard says that his father Paul, who began to manufacture pastis in the 1920s in the hills behind Marseilles, would have welcomed the Allied deal. He said: "I think he would approve. Because if you see the size of the company when he started, what was then achieved when he was running the company, and then after that when he retired, I presume he would be very happy" - The Sunday Telegraph​

However, rival spirits groups are apparently less pleased with the Ricard family's coup​:

The families that own Bermuda-based Bacardi spent the weekend considering a counter-bid. Bacardi chairman Ruben Rodriguez previously held talks with Allied chief executive Philip Bowman. Some of the 100 family shareholders who control the rum maker want to see if anything can be done to resurrect a deal and outbid Pernod - The Business​

Three of the most formidable players in the drinks industry have held talks about a rival takeover, says the Mail. Constellation Brands has spoken with Diageo and Brown Forman about mounting a joint offer - The Mail on Sunday​

Bacardi might be persuaded to join up with Constellation, especially if it can take over Allied Domecq's London stock market listing. Bacardi is considering becoming a Plc and "reversing into Allied would be a neat solution," said a City drinks analyst - The Observer​ Former Laurel Pub Company chief executive Ian Payne has made it through to the second round of bidding for SFI Group. Payne is thought to be competing against tycoon Robert Tchenguiz, who paid £151m for Laurel in December, with Yates Group also thought to be in contention - The Mail on Sunday​

Pubs group Punch Taverns reports interim profits this week, and analysts expect upbeat figures following its takeover of Unique Pub Company last autumn - The Mail on Sunday​

Britain's top business leaders will this week fire a pre-election warning shot lambasting the Government for its failure to tackle the reputed £100bn regulatory burden on UK industry. At the Institute of Directors annual convention, IoD director-general and former Whitbread Beer Company managing director Miles Templeman will warn that "in terms of tax and regulation we have been going in the wrong direction" - The Sunday Express​

Luminar is in talks to sell part of its estate to Close Brothers Private Equity for about £30m. The company has given the go-ahead for the management of 53 nightclubs to try to secure backing for a deal - The Sunday Times​

The Tote, the state-owned betting operator, is working on a bid for Stanley Leisure's £500m betting-shop business. It hopes to gatecrash the deal being negotiated between Stanley and William Hill, Britain's No 2 bookie, and has hired Lazard, the investment bank, to help it prepare an offer - The Sunday Times​