What the Sunday papers say - 11 November
Sunday Business
Nomura has put Inn Partnerships, one of three pub companies it owns, up for sale for an estimated £500m. Guy Hands, head of Nomura's Principal Finance Group has appointed Schroder Salomon Smith Barney to find a buyer for the business which the Japanese bank bought in January 1999 from Greenalls (now De Vere) for £375m. Likely buyers include rivals such as Enterprise Inns, Laurel Pub Company, Pubmaster and Punch as well as a string of private equity buyers.
The Sunday Telegraph
SFI Group is poised to acquire the Parisa chain of café bars in a deal worth £22m. SFI, which owns the Slug & Lettuce, Bar Med and Litten Tree bar brands will pay £15m in cash with a further £7m to be made in a deferred payment, based on the chain's performance. The Parisa portfolio comprises 24 café bars plus one restaurant. Read 'SFI: To buy or not to buy?" on thePublican.com.
Two entrepreneurs have snapped up Lightship 10, a 125-year-old Danish vessel moored in St Katherine's Docks, near to the Tower of London. David Juul-Hansen and Anders Jensen have raised £2m in a private placing to convert the boat into a luxury bar and restaurant.
Marco Pierre White, the restaurateur who owns the Criterion, has teamed up with Piers Adam, the nightclub entrepreneur, to transform London's most notorious "hostess bars" into upmarket private members clubs. They have acquired leasehold interests in the Crazy Horse and Chaplins which in the 1980s and 1990s were two of London's best-known "gentleman's clubs".
The Sunday Times
Hilton chief executive David Michels is expected to announce hotel bookings in Paris and London have fallen by 20 per cent since September 11. This is the drop in occupancy levels at the international hotel group's capital-city venues in September and October - and there do not appear to be any signs of bookings recovering.
The Sunday Express
Makers of Stolichnaya, the drink sold as "genuine" Russian vodka, could move production to Latvia, leaving Allied Domecq, its US distributor, with a multi-million pound marketing headache. Allied bought the 10-year rights to the vodka for several hundred million pounds a year ago.
Brothers Gerry and Tim Martin of Old Monk and JD Wetherspoon fame respectively, are profiled in the Financial Sunday Express' "Head to Head" column. It emerges that while Tim lies awake at night fretting over the business, as his younger brother sleeps soundly. Tim says that anxiety to improve the components of the business is key - if you can't think of any, you're falling behind. Gerry started working for Tim before branching out on his own in 1994. He says the person he respects most in business is his brother: "He has changed the business and he should be knighted for what he has achieved."
David Shand says that Inventive Leisure, the vodka bar operator, is a stock to watch. Its Revolution format is popular, with openings showing better-than-expected trading. Free from fierce competition in a growth area and with an undemanding rating going forward, there is scope to lift spirits with shares currently priced at 158.5p. Read more about Revolution on thePublican.com.
The Independent on Sunday
The business section's "Punting in the City" sharewatch column backs JD Wetherspoon as a long-term buy. It points to its simple format - large airy pubs, competitive price and no music, as well as coffee and food promotions for the reasons for its overwhelming success. The company also plans extensive growth over the next 10 years - it wants to get to 1,500 pubs and also plans to venture into Europe. With a recession looming its cheap-drinks policy should help it retain, if not gain, customers. Read about JD Wetherspoon's latest results thePublican.com.
The Mail on Sunday
No industry-related news
The Observer
No industry-related news
