Enterprise cheers on Laurel deal
12 April 2012
SHARES in Enterprise Inns dropped after an ambiguous statement from the Department of Trade and Industry led to fears that the group's £875m takeover of most of Laurel's pubs could be derailed for competition reasons.
The DTI said the deal would be referred to the Competition Commission unless Competition Minister Melanie Johnson got assurances that Enterprise would sell pubs in 10 regions.
With no DTI guidance on the number involved, the shares fell 16p to 540p before Enterprise said it would have to offload only about 60 of its 5340-strong estate. The shares then raced back up to 556p.
