This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29893201

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Greene King agrees to buy Spirit Pub Company Greene King agrees to buy Spirit Pub Company
(about 1 hour later)
Greene King has agreed to buy Spirit Pub Company, the owner of the Chef & Brewer chain, in a deal which values the firm at about £774m. Spirit Pub Company, which owns Chef & Brewer, has agreed to a £774m takeover offer from Greene King.
The new offer values Spirit at 115p per share, up from an original offer of 100p that was rejected in September. Suffolk-based Greene King has 1,900 pubs and restaurants, including the Hungry Horse and Lock Fyne chains. The combination with Spirit will form a group of 3,000 pubs.
Spirit, which was split off from Punch Taverns in 2011, runs the Chef & Brewer and Flaming Grill chains. The new offer - a mixture of cash and shares - values Spirit at 115p per share, up from an original offer of 100p that was rejected in September.
Suffolk-based Greene King has 1,900 pubs and restaurants including the Hungry Horse and Lock Fyne chains. The deal requires shareholder approval.
The offer from Greene King is mixture of cash and shares, and values Spirit at £773.6m. There have been other expressions of interest in Spirit, including from C&C, the owner of the Magners cider brand.
The deal is part of Greene King's shift into restaurants and pubs that serve food. Move to food
Under chief executive Rooney Anand, Greene King has been cutting the number of pubs it owns, including a deal in May which saw 275 tenanted and leased pubs sold to Hawthorn Leisure. Greene King's move is part of its shift into restaurants and pubs that serve food.
Under chief executive Rooney Anand, Greene King - which was formed in 1799 - has been reorganising its pubs estate. In May, it sold 275 tenanted and leased pubs to Hawthorn Leisure.
In July, Greene King announced preliminary annual profits of £105m, down 5% on the previous year.In July, Greene King announced preliminary annual profits of £105m, down 5% on the previous year.
Restaurants saw a 4.1% rise in profit, while profit growth at pubs was up just 2.2%.Restaurants saw a 4.1% rise in profit, while profit growth at pubs was up just 2.2%.