Hopes raised for Vaux buyout

Hopes raised for Vaux buyout

VAUX, the Sunderland pub group planning to sell its two breweries and 350 tenanted pubs to concentrate on Swallow hotels, yesterday agreed to grant a four-week exclusivity deal to a management buyout team led by Frank Nicholson, the younger brother of Vaux's chairman Sir Paul Nicholson. It raises hopes that the management team - which is committed to keeping open both the Sunderland brewery and the Ward's brewery in Sheffield - will clinch the deal, which could be worth over pounds 80m. Vaux profits in the first 16 weeks of the current year are almost 5 per cent ahead of last year but below target, the AGM was told.