PROPERTY tycoon Robert Tchenguiz is considering plans to float part of his Laurel Pub Company. The entrepreneur is in the middle of splitting the business into two separate entities. One will own restaurant chains such as Slug & Lettuce, Ha Ha Bar and La Tasca, while the other will house pubs, including the Yates chain.

Tchenguiz aims to capitalise on growing investor appetite for restaurant brands by floating the former.

He has held informal discussions about the spin-off with potential advisers although the talks are at a preliminary stage.

One source with knowledge of the plans said that a decision would probably depend on what happens to rival restaurant operator Tragus, the owner of Cafe Rouge, which is expected to float in the new year. If that goes well, said the source, then the Laurel restaurant company could follow, possibly in the early summer. “There are no plans to do anything this calendar year,” stressed the source.

It is understood that Laurel values the restaurant division at about £400m.

Many pub groups, including Laurel, have been building up the number of food-led outlets that they run.

Since the smoking ban came into force in Britain, pub groups are increasingly improving and expanding their food offerings to attract custom. ONE of the country’s biggest pub landlords, Gary Landesberg, has emerged as a leading bidder for South Lakeland Holidays, the caravan-park group.

Landesberg, an active property investor, is thought to be preparing a bid of about £130m. A handful of other parties remain in contention, including Macquarie, the Australian infrastructure investor, but Landesberg is the favourite.

In the past four years he has built his pub vehicle, Admiral Taverns, into the third-largest owner of tenanted pubs in the UK through a series of acquisitions. It has 2,600 outlets.

The holiday company is currently owned by L&G Ventures. It bought South Lakeland in 2006 from entrepreneur John Morphet for about £100m. But it has decided to sell up, hiring Deloitte, the accountancy firm to run an auction of the business.

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