Robert Tchenguiz, the embattled property tycoon, damped down fears over his financial position last night by injecting more than £50 million into his Laurel Pub Company as part of a rescue refinancing of the business.

R20, his main investment vehicle, was forced to place Laurel into the hands of administrators yesterday but immediately bought back the majority of the business in a complex series of transactions valuing it at between £300 million and £400 million.

The entrepreneur resorted to administration after his bankers, Dresdner Kleinwort and Kaupthing, refused to refinance Laurel if it retained 90 loss-making bars with onerous leases. All the sites have now ceased trading.

Last night's deal allows him to offload any liability for those 90 sites, which now become the responsibility of Kroll, the insolvency specialist appointed to handle the administration. Kroll will resurrect attempts to sell the sites, although the lease laibilities may make that difficult.

Under the terms of the refinancing, Laurel is being split into two new companies that will be separately run and financed, albeit by the same banks.

The biggest will be Bay Restaurant Group, headed by Paul Symonds, chief executive of Laurel. This will consist of 85 La Tasca tapas bars, which were separately funded and did not form part of the administration, together with 84 Slug and Lettuce outlets, 24 Ha Ha Bar & Grill units and 24 sites that are yet to be branded.

The other, Town & City Pub Company, will operate 161 high street bars, most branded as Yates's. The business will be run by Toby Smith, a senior Laurel executive. Ian Payne, Laurel's chairman, will be chairman of both new companies.

A source close to R20 confirmed that a Tchenguiz family trust would inject between £50 million and £60 million into the businesses to ensure that all suppliers and some 8,000 staff across both new companies did not lose any money. He said that the cash injection would also mean that the banks did not lose any money while Laurel's pension liabilities would be fully covered.

Analysts said that Mr Tchenguiz's ability to fund the cash injection was a signal that his financial position was not as parlous as many commentators have suggested. Big falls in the value of his stakes in Mitchells & Butlers and J Sainsbury in recent months had sparked fears over his ability to ride out the debt market crisis.

Mr Payne said: “With the refinancing of both Bay Restaurant Group and Town & City Pub Company now complete, both businesses have a solid platform from which to expand, grow and maximise their future potential.”

A spokeswoman for Laurel emphasised that administration had been the only solution to the company's problem bars, adding that all three restaurant brands continued to report positive trading. “A few sites were marring the business but that situation is now resolved.”

R20 acquired Laurel in November 2004 for £151 million, then in May 2005 purchased Yates Group for £202 million. A month later it added 98 SFI Group pubs for an estimated £80 million and in April last year it spent £136 million on La Tasca, the tapas bar operator, although it was retained as a separate entity.

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