Punch, Enterprise in £2bn battle

TWO of the UK's biggest pub companies will go head to head in a fight for 4300 pubs being sold by Japanese bank Nomura.

Enterprise Inns - part of a consortium led by private equity groups Cinven and Legal & General - and the Punch Pub Company will table bids of just over £2 billion for the Unique and Voyager pub chains.

The winner will become the UK's largest pub landlord.

If the Enterprise bid wins, the pubs will exist as a separate company, called Unique, and will be owned jointly by the consortium. Enterprise, led by Ted Tuppen, has an option to buy the company in two years' time.

If Punch, headed by former Unique boss Giles Thorley, is successful it will delay its plans to float on the Stock Exchange until the autumn.

Nomura will decide the winner on Tuesday, with the sale completed by Wednesday.

Sources close to Nomura said that the tight deadline was to create 'competitive tension' and was not influenced by the bonus for departing financier Guy Hands, which will be affected by the sale.

Nomura could still decide not to sell the pubs if the price does not meet expectations, but insiders are confident a deal will be completed this week.