Sunday Papers: Mitchells & Butlers to sell ten-pin bowling centre chain - bid news and gossip

The Sunday Times

* Mitchells & Butlers is close to selling its chain of ten-pin bowling centres for up to £40m.

* Fitness First, the world’s biggest gym chain, is being lined up for a £2 billion listing that would trigger a giant windfall for its private equity backers.

* Investment bankers will bag up to £15m in fees for advising on the £1 billion flotation of Ocado, the internet grocer; the lion’s share will be collected by Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Cazenove and UBS.

* Erik Engstrom, the chief executive of Reed Elsevier has told private equity groups that he will attempt to hold together Reed assets.

* Prudential is planning a boardroom shake-up that could pave the way for the departure of chairman Harvey McGrath.

* Investors in the Economist Group, including City blue-bloods such as the Rothschild, Cadbury and Schroder families, split a £33m dividend last year.

* Directors of Corporate Jet Services that went bust owing HBOS £113m were able to buy it back from the administrators for an initial payment of just £7.

* A new City code has emphasised the responsibilities of fund managers to participate in AGMs of the companies which they invest in.

* Barclays will announce plans to accelerate its expansion in Spain, Portugal and Italy this week.

* Giraffe, the restaurant group backed by entrepreneur Luke Johnson and 3i, has delivered a strong performance, with sales up 21% to £29m for the year to March.

The Sunday Telegraph