What the Sunday papers said
American drinks giant Constellation Brands, which is leading a counter-offer to Pernod Ricard's £7.4bn takeover of Allied Domecq, will this week intensify efforts to lure Diageo into its bid consortium. Constellation is keen to get the backing of the world's biggest drinks firm, amid concern that it will struggle to raise sufficient funding in the capital markets for a credible bid - The Sunday Times
Robert Tchenguiz expects Globe, the company he set up last year with 360 pubs acquired from Spirit, to grow to 1,500 tenanted sites. On the managed side, he wants to build the 300-outlet combination of Laurel and Yates to 1,000 managed pubs. "We are bidding on several of the pub businesses that are on the market right now. We should be able to win them all," he said - The Sunday Times SAB Miller is having a bar built for senior executives at its London office. Graham Mackay, SAB's chief executive, says London was the only office in the group's international operations that did not have an "in-house pub" and it was an anomaly that was long overdue for correction - The Sunday Times
Marco Pierre White is stepping up plans to turn Frankie's, the Italian restaurant in Knightsbridge into a chain, writes Matthew Goodman. The restaurant is named after White's partner in the venture, jockey Frankie Dettori. The restaurateur wants to convert his Criterion restaurant at Piccadilly Circus into a 400-seat branch of Frankie's - The Sunday Times
Dr Atkins may have passed away two years ago but he is still the toast of brewing giant SABMiller. The sale of low-carb Miller Lite beer, the brew of Atkins dieters, has lifted group profits - The Sunday Express
Thanks to a touch of political intrigue, seafood group Loch Fyne Restaurants could soon be enjoying expansion. A Loch Fyne restaurant was allegedly the setting for a lunch beween Labour heavyweights Gordon Brown and John Prescott in Scotland last year, and the chain is thought to be close to appointing advisers as it explores the possibility of a floatation - The Sunday Express
Picking up on The Publican's revelation that a group of Greene King tenants are considering legal action over beer prices, the Independent quotes a Greene King insider saying the group has sent managers to visit tenants across the country and see if any complaints could be addressed - The Independent on Sunday
Spirit Group should consider a break-up rather than a flotation, advises the Telegraph. The paper speculates that about a third of the group's pubs have such low turnover that they are barely viable as managed pubs, and would be better off auctioned off to a specialist tenanted group - but Spirit could then lose its overall economies of scale, so the higher quality pubs should be auctioned off as well - The Sunday Telegraph
S&N chief executive Tony Froggatt now has a screen saver on his mobile phone saying 'pace, urgency, commitment' - the work of an unknown member of staff. The phrase has become S&N's mantra as Mr Froggatt reinvents the business as a global brewer - The Mail on Sunday
Whitbread is launching a budget version of its David Lloyd Leisure club brand in an attempt to improve performance at its worst sites. The David Lloyd Metro concept will compete with brands such as Fitness First and LA Fitness - The Mail on Sunday
Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries has shown its acquisition thirst. Investors will want to see Jennings bedded down before other sizeable transactions, though Wolves says it believes further industry consolidation is likely - The Financial Times (weekend edition)
