What the Sunday papers say - May 27

Sunday Business​​

Interbrew is likely to sell individual brands rather than dispose of the former Whitbread Beer Company business in an attempt to reach a compromise with the Competition Commission. One analyst suggests it may try to sell Whitbread's licence to produce Heineken under contract together with Bass' Tennants and one of its brewery sites. Click here for the latest on Interbrew and Bass Brewers

Nomura Principal Finance, which owns the operators of 6,000 pubs, is seen as the most likely buyer of Seagram Drinks' Oddbins off-licence chain. Other potential buyers lining up include a management team and J Sainsbury.

Nomura's acquisition of Le Meridien hotels is the first time that the bank has bought a thriving business rather than a rundown one, such as its previous pub deals.

Britvic has been put up for sale after investment bank Schroder Salomon Smith Barney circulated a memorandum of sale document to potential bidders. Pepsi, which owns a small stake, is seen as the most likely buyer, but other trade bidders could include Matthew Clark and Cadbury-Schweppes. However, another option is for a break-up, with Pepsi buying only the carbonated drinks and the others being sold separately

Whitbread is set to make a new franchise deal with Marriott International to run the Renaissance hotel brand.

Sunday Times​​

A pub called the Live and Let Live, which many years ago had a sign saying "No Coloureds", was attacked in race riots in Oldham.

The Number One Goth in Cardenden, Fife, the country pub made famous by Inspector Rebus of Ian Rankin's bestselling Dead Souls, has closed with a trail of debts. The Audit Commission has been asked to find out why the community-owned pub/wine bar closed and where grants of more than £500,000 have gone. Despite the massive funding, the pub went bankrupt with rate arrears of almost £9,000 and an unpaid loan of £30,000.

Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster's private company, and Quintain Estates & Development are close to a deal that will give them control of the 150 acres of the Greenwich peninsula, including the Millennium Dome.

Almost one-third of the reasons given for late payment by companies are bogus, according to research by Leeds Business School. The Better Payment Practice Group, set up by businesses and government agencies to promote fast payment, says this shows that owner-managers need to improve their credit- management skills.

Independent on Sunday​​

The Jolly Carter pub on Lees Road, Oldham, was bombarded with bricks by 30 to 40 people in race riots.

An antibiotic-resistant bacterium found in salami and other forms of raw sausages can transfer its resistance to humans, endangering those needing antibiotic therapy, according to a study by Franziska Schwarz, a food engineer at Switzerland's prestigious Federal Institute of Technology.

Sunday Telegraph​​

A whisky distillery in Bruichladdich, Islay, is to reopen after closing in 1993. The four partners, including managing director Mark Reynier, are investing £6.5m in the site, which began distilling in 1881, after buying it from Jim Beam Brands. They will be returning to traditional methods and machinery because they believe the whisky industry has become too commercialised.

Shares in Georgica, which bought Allied Leisure, have risen by 40 per cent over the past seven weeks, but they are now recommended as a stock to sell. The big question is said to be whether chairman Nick Oppenheim, the former head of Northern Leisure, can repeat his success, since snooker clubs and burger takeaways are not viewed as offering "explosive growth".

Property group Marylebone Warwick Balfour is set to treble the size of its hotel division to around £500m, with projects planned for London's Docklands.

Mail on Sunday​​

Whitbread is expected to update Café Rouge and rename it just Rouge after a trial of the new-look concept in Weybridge, Surrey. It is also selling four Café Rouges to Ask Central to convert to pizza restaurants.

Tony Blair thinks that his son Euan's drunken escapade, when he was found facedown in Leicester Square, London, was "pretty hilarious", according to an interview with the newspaper.

Chorion's shares are recommended as ones to buy because of its long-term plans to demerge its bars division, including Tiger Tiger, from its intellectual property business, which owns the rights to Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie.

South African Breweries is thought to be less likely to be interested in buying Bass Brewers from Interbrew because of plans to buy at least three breweries in China, including the New Three Star.

Petrol prices are likely to break to 80p-a-litre barrier after a meeting of Opec to cut crude production.

The Live and Let Live pub in Oldham was damaged when it was twice attacked in rioting between white and Asian youths.

Sunday Express​​

Police plans to use lollipops and children's TV themes to cull violence at closing time are attacked by columnist Dominic Utton.

Glenmorangie's shares are recommended as a long-term investment because of the alliance with Brown-Forman and the bottling deal with Drambuie.

On the diary page, JD Wetherspoon is ridiculed for its company policy that barstaff must empty ashtrays if there are more than two cigarette butts.

Scotland on Sunday​​

Britvic has been put up for sale after investment bank Schroder Salomon Smith Barney circulated a memorandum of sale document to potential bidders.

The Observer​​

No industry-related stories.