What the Sunday papers say - 24 February

The Financial Times​​

Enterprise Inns' share price has been rising because it is seen as the ideal candidate to buy Unique Pub Company or Voyager Group.

Morland's brewery, including its brewery tap pub, in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, has been converted into homes ranging in price from £185,000 to £475,000. Another pub, the Old Fox With His Teeth Drawn, in Old Bricket, near St Albans, Hertfordshire, has been transformed into a luxury home on the market at £875,000.

The Financial Times reveals the costs of paying for licences to play background music in restaurants and bars, such as Fish!, including specially programmed packages provided by companies such as Sunflower and Rolec.

The Government is to unveil a £40million package to support marketing initiatives to revive the British tourism industry.

Restaurants and bars in San Francisco are being forced to reinvent themselves after the collapse of dotcom industries by appealing to a more bohemian and artistic crowd.

Guinness UDV has been accused of "misleading" consumers into thinking that the US version of Smirnoff Ice contains vodka rather than a malt alternative.

AG Barr is driving up sales of its soft drink brand, Irn-Bru, in England and its native Scotland by positioning it as the "rebel" in contrast to Coca-Cola.

The Sunday Times​​

Coffee supplier Matthew Algie has set up Coffee Police in Glasgow to respond to public complaints about coffee standards in restaurants and bars, via its website, www.coffeepolice.com.

Hertford-based brewer and pub operator McMullen's has been put up for sale for about £200million, claims The Sunday Times.

Bulmers, Hilton, Greene King and Luminar are among the 50 most undervalued companies on the stock exchange, according to research in The Sunday Times.

The Sunday Telegraph​​

Fish! has more than halved its roll-out plans for 2002 to only five restaurants and has embarked on a strategic review amid "difficult market conditions". It may also exit the stock exchange by going private. Pre-tax profits for the year to October 31 dropped more than 20 per cent to £1.7million.

The Wagamama chain is poised to be put up for sale by its venture capital backer Graphite Capital with a price tag of up to £50million, claims The Sunday Telegraph. Potential buyers are said to be City Centre Restaurants and McDonalds.

Punch Pub Company is expected to delay its stock market flotation so it can bid for Nomura's Unique Pub Company and Voyager Group.

The Observer​​

French police launched new raids on Bordeaux chateaux after more claims that the wine is being diluted and sold with fake labels.

The Mail on Sunday​​

The Mail claims Enterprise Inns is putting together a £2bn bid for Japanese bank Nomura's Voyager and Unique pub chains. Such a deal would push Enterprise into first place as the UK's biggest pub operator with a total of 7,800 outlets.

US brewer Coors is to sever distribution links with rival Carlsberg-Tetley, according to the Mail. This follows its £1.2bn purchase of Carling.