THEY THINK it's all over. Well apparently it isn't. Stung and angered by the artillery fire of press brick bats, Whitbread last night promised it was coming back for more in its battle for Allied Domecq's pubs. It's always hard to admit defeat; all puffed up and seething with irritation at being outmanoeuvred by the fleet of foot Punch Taverns, Whitbread seems determined not to.

WHITBREAD YESTERDAY launched an attempt to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in the battle for Allied Domecq's retail business when it said it was considering a higher offer to trump Punch Taverns' pounds 2.85bn bid.

EIGHT UP, four down - that is the no pain, no gain score after four months' investing. With many of the dozen shares selected dotted around the stock market's under-card, the steady headway recently achieved by small cap shares has clearly made a helpful contribution to the portfolio's performance.

THE BATTLE for Allied Domecq's pub estate is set to reach fever pitch today with Punch Taverns pledging to top an expected increase in Whitbread's pounds 2.4bn rival offer.

THE FINAL denouement approaches, and it doesn't look good for David Thomas, chief executive of Whitbread. Mr Thomas continues to insist that his own pounds 2.35bn all shares bid for Allied Domecq's pubs is worth more than Punch's pounds 2.7bn, though he must know he's lost the argument. So he must either raise his terms or face rejection by Allied shareholders at Friday's extraordinary general meeting.

PUNCH TAVERNS, the privately owned pub group, last night claimed it had won an important battle in the war with Whitbread over Allied Domecq's pub estate after its pounds 2.7bn cash offer was cleared by the tax authorities. The decision by the Inland Revenue means that Allied Domecq shareholders will not have to pay capital gains or corporation tax if they accept Punch's offer for the 3,600 pubs.

SIR CHRISTOPHER Hogg and his board at Allied Domecq seem to be in a dreadful pickle over the disposal of the group's pubs estate. They would not themselves admit this, of course, and indeed on one level, they are indisputably sitting pretty. Their share price keeps rising and they are now in the happy position of having two competing bids on the table for the 3,500 pubs.

PUNCH TAVERNS, the privately controlled pubs group, is to take its pounds 2.7bn offer for Allied Domecq's pub estate direct to Allied's shareholders after the Allied board rejected its offer as "insufficiently attractive" and backed the rival bid from Whitbread instead.

PUNCH TAVERNS, the pub group led by the entrepreneur Hugh Osmond, will formally launch a pounds 2.7bn takeover bid for 3,500 Allied Domecq pubs tomorrow, trumping an agreed paper offer from Whitbread.

News Analysis: Can Hugh Osmond outmanoeuvre Whitbread in the battle for 3,500-strong pub estate?

PUNCH TAVERNS, the pub company led by Hugh Osmond, will today announce it has secured the backing of the leisure giant Bass in its battle to beat Whitbread's pounds 2.45bn offer for 3,500 Allied Domecq pubs.

PUNCH TAVERNS, the pubs group led by Hugh Osmond, is waiting only for advice from the taxman before pushing ahead this week with a pounds 2.7bn- plus attempt to trump Whitbread's offer for 3,500 Allied Domecq pubs.

BASS has decided not to bid for Allied Domecq's pub estate, leaving Whitbread the strong favourite to secure the 3,600 premises, writes Dan Gledhill.

WHITBREAD'S shares were the biggest gainer of the week in the FT-SE 100 index, rising 8 per cent after the brewer agreed to buy Allied Domecq's UK pubs for pounds 2.4bn. It will allow the company to cut costs as it adds Firkin and Big Steak Pub to its own chains to become the UK's largest pub operator. However, a rival bid, most likely from Punch Taverns, could foil the agreement.