The finance ministry said 7.5 per cent of the company would be offered to French private investors at a price likely to be between Fr170 and Fr190 a share.A further 11.5 per cent would be placed with big institutions in France and overseas. However the group said the sale, which will raise pounds 195m, would lead to a pounds 54m charge this year.GrandMet also warned that the impact of the strong pound would cost it another pounds 22m in the second half on top of a pounds 9m currency hit in the first six months. Most of the tenants are thought to be determined to take legal action against Inntrepreneur over their existing leases which analysts believe could cost the group up to pounds 350m in damages.More than 400 tenants of Spring Inns have also failed to sign up and could threaten further legal action.One Inntrepreneur publican said yesterday: “We are determined to carry on fighting Inntrepreneur and await a decision by the European Commission on the legality of the beer agreements.”Mr Foster now believes Inntrepreneur will be able to secure a better deal from Scottish & Newcastle, the UK’s largest brewer, when its beer supply agreement comes up for renewal next March and is planning to introduce several new beer suppliers.GrandMet’s sale of its 50 per cent stake in Inntrepreneur clears another obstacle in the way of its proposed pounds 23bn merger with Guinness. It is likely to dispose of the group through a trade sale or flotation on the stock market after a few years.The restructuring of Inntrepreneur could also lead to some management job losses but it is understood a large-scale redundancy programme is not on the cards at the moment.However, Nomura has taken on a potential huge compensation claim from the pub groups’ tenants who are looking to claim damages for allegedly being unfairly tied to beer supply agreements.Under the deal all future litigation risks have been transferred from GrandMet and Foster’s to Nomura.The litigation worries intensified this summer when more than 800 pub tenants, or more than a third of Inntrepreneur’s tenanted estate, failed to sign up to Retail Link, a new lease that commits them to buying beer from the group. Nomura has also bought Spring Inns, the 1,410-strong pub chain which was split off from Inntrepreneur last year, for around pounds 225m.

Nomura, a securities house, plans to invest heavily in Inntrepreneur and will speed up the pub group’s plans to create a managed pub estate.
Mike Foster, chief executive of Inntrepreneur, said: “Nomura obviously has deeper pockets. We can step up our plans to create a managed pub chain of a few hundred pubs.” However Nomura is not likely to hold the group for the long term. Grand Metropolitan and Australian Brewer, Foster’s, have sold their 50 per cent stakes in Inntrepreneur, which has 2,900 pubs, to Nomura for pounds 950m. Mr Hersov stands to make millions from a share options package if he can secure successful acquisitions.. Richemont now owns a 15 per cent stake in Canal Plus, the French media giant which in turn owns a large stake in Telepui.The link with Canal Plus could help further Enic’s ambitions. Indeed, Richard Hersov, who joined the group last month as director to help oversee its expansion in Europe, has close links with Richemont.He was managing director of Telepui, Italy’s leading pay television company, in which Richemont used to have a large stake. This will allow it to take up its option to pay pounds 40m for a 25 per cent stake in Rangers.

It also plans to pay pounds 2.5m to raise its stake in Vincenza to 62 per cent from just under 30 per cent.Compaigne Financiere Richemont, the French group which has an empire that spans famous brands such as Dunhill, Rothmans and Cartier, has bought pounds 3.1m of Enic’s shares, taking its stake in the group to 5.4 per cent.The stake raises the prospect that Richemont could form an alliance with Enic to exploit acquisition opportunities. Enic insists that Mr Lewis has a passive role but he is understood to be watching its progress closely.Enic plans to convert from an investment trust to a normal plc once it has pulled off a large acquisition. Mr Lewis owns 49 per cent of Enic, although his shareholding will be diluted to just under 36 per cent after the refinancing. Mr Levy also owns ordinary shares in Enic worth more than pounds 417,000.Enic is likely to announce a string of deals within the next few months. It is believed to be looking at other sporting areas and in particular the acquisition of intellectual property rights and brands which it hopes to exploit on a large scale.Daniel Levy, the 35-year-old Cambridge graduate hand-picked by Bahamas- based entrepreneur and close friend Mr Lewis to run Enic, is sitting on a paper profit of more than pounds 18m following the company’s pounds 51m fund-raising exercise.Mr Levy’s trust, Walburg Holdings, is now entitled to 7.5 million convertible shares which can be swapped for ordinary shares at a price of 32.7p compared to yesterday’s closing price of 275p.A spokesman for Enic said Mr Levy was granted the convertible shares when the share price was 25p. It raised another pounds 20m from institutions in April and is thought to be prepared to spend more than pounds 100m. It is in talks with AEK Athens, one of Greece’s leading football clubs, about a takeover.