Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises has outmanoeuvred the Brains Mansford Consortium and Punch Taverns to be British Waterways' preferred candidate for its Waterside Pub Partnership.
If contract negotiations are finalised this autumn, the leased pub company will initially manage 59 existing and development pub sites in a portfolio worth more than £400m.
James Froomberg, British Waterways' commercial director, said: "They bring the expertise needed to develop a successful waterside pubs business, and they share our vision to delight millions of visitors to our canals and rivers each year."
British Waterways estimated that 400 million visits a year were made to Britain's 2,000 miles of waterside, with people spending £1.5b a year - half of which goes on food and beverages.