The Times
Perhaps the proposed Greene King takeover of Spirit Pub Company isn't all over after all. C&C Group, the Irish drinks group behind Magners cider and Tennent's lager, is understood to have made an approach to the Chef & Brewer operator offering a higher price.
Whereas Greene King is offering only a miserly 8p of cash as part of a 109.5p-a-share offer, the word is that C&C is willing to offer about 115p a share, of which at least a third would be in cash.
The question for the Spirit board will be to determine the value of C&C Group's paper in relation to the likely synergies as it does not currently have any pubs.
At the very least, the move would inject a bit of competitive tension into a process that looked likely to deliver Spirit into the hands of Greene King at a lower-than-expected price.
It will be interesting to see how Rooney Anand, Greene King's ambitious chief executive, responds as he will not want to let the prize slip from his grasp.