Shares in Flying Brands, the cards to flowers home shopping group, soared more than 32 per cent yesterday after it disclosed that it had received a takeover approach from West Coast Capital, the buyout firm co-founded by Sir Tom Hunter, the retailing entrepreneur.

The struggling retailer described the approach as being at a “very early stage”, noting that there could be no certainty that it would lead to an offer. The shares rose 17½p to 71½p.

Last week the company said that first-half pretax profits had more than halved to £1.2 million and scrapped its interim dividend, blaming a fall in profits in its Garden Direct unit and lower sales of flowers for Mother’s Day. It also said that it was cautious about the outlook for the rest of 2008.

Shares in Sinclair Pharma rose by 29.4 per cent on takeover hopes. The company said that it was having discussions with two parties – about what it called a “strategic opportunity” in one case and about an inquiry that might or might not lead to an offer being made for the company in the other case. Shares in Sinclair, which sells skincare and dental health products across Europe, rose by 14¾p to 65p.

Cains Beer Company, the Liverpool brewer and pubs group, has gone into administration after failing to conclude a funding agreement with the Bank of Scotland. About 1,000 jobs are under threat in Cains, which ran into cashflow difficulties after a downturn in trade, attributable in part to the smoking ban in pubs and a rise in commodity costs at its brewery.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, the administrator, said it was working with staff and landlords to ensure the brewery and the pubs stay open while it seeks a buyer for the business. Shares in Cains were suspended last Friday at 3p.

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