What the Sunday papers said

The celebrity property fund that is backed by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and music mogul Simon Cowell is set to snap up nearly 300 pubs being sold by Marston's, according to the Sunday Times. It is understood their company, Alternative Asset Investment Management, is locked in exclusive talks to buy the pubs for around £80m, with a deal expected to be announced in the middle of May. - Sunday Times​

Carlsberg has set in motion plans to take over Scottish & Newcastle (S&N), reports the Mail On Sunday. The Danish brewer is doubling its share capital and any bid for the UK brewer would be paid for in Carlsberg shares. With apparent bid interest from rivals Diageo and SABMiller, it is understood Carlsberg felt it had to act to protect its Russian joint venture with S&N from falling into alternative hands. - Mail On Sunday​

There have been some extraordinary twists and turns in the Scottish & Newcastle situation since the Sunday Express broke the story that SABMiller and Diageo were plotting to acquire the UK brewer, the paper says. The latest news is that Carlsberg is preparing a bid for S&N. One thing is for sure, the paper writes: S&N will go for at least 700p a share some time in the near future. - Sunday Express​

Having moved into new offices after leaving its famous Ram Brewery premises, Young & Co says it has no intention of selling to the highest bidder, reports the Sunday Times. Young's chief executive Steve Goodyear told the paper that he believes the wave of consolidation that has swept through family-owned brewing concerns is nearing its end, with perhaps one or two more deals to come. - Sunday Times​

BSkyB, set to announce its third quarter results this week, is expected to reveal it is losing customers to rivals after withdrawing cut-price deals designed to attract subscribers. City analysts fear BSkyB's churn rate - the number of people abandoning the group - could be as high as 15 per cent, up from 11.9 per cent in the previous quarter and 11.4 per cent in the same quarter in 2006. However the City expects Sky to record a net gain of around 20,000 new customers over the period, around half the number it added in the same quarter last year. - Observer​

Supermarket group Sainsbury's is set to disappoint investors including Robert Tchenguiz by rejecting calls to return money to shareholders via a sale of its property portfolio, says the Sunday Telegraph. Plans to be revealed next month will see the supermarket's property portfolio refinanced through a string of joint ventures and securitisations. The capital raised will then be used to extend the chain's landbank. Tchenguiz is calling for Sainsbury's to split the group into an operating company and a property group and return cash to shareholders. - Sunday Telegraph​

Jack Petchey's success is based on spotting share prices that do not reflect the value of the underlying asset, reports the Sunday Times. The property-to-leisure-to-car dealership tycoon says the trick is to "have the balls" to invest in such assets when you do spot them. The Sunday Times Rich List puts Petchey's personal wealth at £545m. He is an investor in newly formed pub group, London Town. - Sunday Times​