What the Sunday papers said

The Sunday Times​

• Mitchells & Butlers is risking shareholder anger by going back on a deal to give £400m of spare cash back to investors in order to bid for Scottish & Newcastle's £2.3bn pub and hotel business.

Twelve alcoholics are trying to sue drinks manufacturers for failing to warn them of the dangers of alcohol.The group, aged between 18 and 60, could be ready to launch Britain's first legal challenge to the UK drinks industry as early as next month.

The Observer​

• The European Commission (EC) has threatened to block the Premier League from selling all live football to Sky, following reports that the satellite broadcaster had made a £1bn bid for exclusive rights. EC insiders believe the deal will create a monopoly.

Mail on Sunday​

• Bidders for Scottish & Newcastle's pubs, which are valued at £2.3bn, are preparing to offer £2.8bn.

Mitchells & Butlers, Laurel and Pubmaster are all preparing to put in an offer on the 1,450 pubs by Wednesday's deadline.

Spirit Group is also said to be considering an offer. Venture capital groups thought to include Terra Firma, Nomura and Texas Pacific could also make an offer, as well as entrepreneurs Hugh Osmond and Trevor Hemmings.

Columnist Peter Hitchins wrote about what he sees as the dangers of ID cards. "Can't you see that in a free country the government has to explain its existence to you, not the other way round," he wrote.

Sunday Express​

• Sky is expected to secure three-year rights to screen Premiership matches, for around £850m - much less than the £1.1bn it paid last time.

By offering so much less Sky is expected to duck accusations that it is buying control of football broadcasting. Or it could bid for Sunday and Monday matches only and sacrifice exclusivity - something it has been reluctant to do in the past.

But Sky's reduced bid is bad news for cash-strapped football clubs and could mean the best players leave the Premiership for more lucrative salaries abroad.

And if Sky's bid for exclusive football rights is investigated by Brussels it could mean delays for the beginning of the season. Last year Italy's Serie A season was delayed by two weeks because of a row over television rights.

Independent on Sunday​

• Germany's largest brewer Holsten Pils needs help from the world's biggest beer companies to expand. Interested parties, according to the paper, should include Anheuser-Busch, Heineken, SAB Miller and maybe Scottish & Newcastle.
  Belgian brewer Interbrew has already entered the market with the £1.3bn purchase of Beck's. Like all premium beers the price for Holsten will be "reassuringly expensive".

The heatwave last week prompted the public to go to the pub and investors to size up the pub players on the stock market. City journalist Heather Tomlinson says attractive companies include Wolverhampton & Dudley and Mitchells & Butlers - but these tend to be fairly priced at the moment. A more risky but potentially more rewarding way to get into the sector is through Scottish & Newcastle.

Luxury travel group Orient Express is in talks to buy the Royal Horseguards hotel for £100m. The hotel, found in Whitehall Place near Trafalgar Square in London, is worth at least its book value of £111m, say Singaporean owners BIL International.

Interims this week include Cadbury Schweppes, expected to be down from £367m from £386m, GlaxoSmithKline on Wednesday and Merrydown on Thursday.