Greene King, the UK listed pub chain, has won the private equity auction for rival Laurel, which operates a chain of neighbourhood pubs, with a £654m (€977m) bid financed by a short-term loan package from Lloyds TSB.

The purchase of local unbranded pubs grows Greene King's estate by 25% to 2,100. Greene King, owner of the Hungry Horse and Old English Inns chains, used Deutsche Bank, its corporate broker, in its first role as the company's financial adviser.