Po Na Na exclusive
The administrator of late-night bar operator Po Na Na has signed an exclusivity agreement with a company which wants to buy 32 of the 33 branches that are still trading.
It is understood that former Po Na Na managing director David Phelps is involved in the deal.
Since taking over the 47-strong chain in May, administrator Grant Thornton has sold three branches to separate buyers and closed 11 more.
Swallow deal expected
Whitbread was expected to announce this week the sale of its chain of Swallow hotels to property developer Leo Noé.
No‚, who had reportedly signed up London Inns Group to run the 13 hotels, was expected to pay about £58m for the properties.
Whitbread put the hotels up for sale in 1999 but abandoned plans to sell them last year, after receiving four "inappropriately low" offers.
North-west sales boom
Hotel agent Christie & Co sold 20 hotels and guesthouses across the North-west of England and in North Wales in the first half of 2003. Together, the deals were worth more than £27m.
Neil Thomson, of Christie & Co's Manchester office, said: "This year, we have seen a strong increase in the number of quality guesthouses and hotels coming to the market in the North-west and North Wales."