THE buyout firm that owns Lee Cooper jeans has emerged as a leading contender to acquire Regent Inns, the £16m bar group.

Sun Capital Partners, which bought the denim brand in 2005, is one of two companies in detailed talks to acquire Regent, owner of the Jongleurs comedy clubs, Old Orleans restaurants and the Walkabout chain of Australian-themed bars.

It faces competition to buy Regent from Brook Leisure, a privately owned nightclub operator. Negotiations are said to be progressing well against the backdrop of tough times for the pub and bar industry, yet a deal is thought to be still weeks away.

Sun is an American firm with a presence in Britain. Other British businesses in which it has previously invested include LDV, the van maker.

Regent Inns admitted to the stock market on January 15 it had received “a number of” preliminary approaches. Despite this, its shares have fallen 30% in the past three months. They closed on Friday at 14½p, valuing the group at £16.4m. A year ago, they stood at 118p.

At its interim results in February, Regent said like-for-like sales for the first half of the financial year were down 3.8%. The pub industry has been hard hit by a combination of factors, including the smoking ban and cheap super-market beer.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that Karen Jones, former chief executive of the Spirit pubs group, is an investor in Lucky Voice, the karaoke bar chain founded by Martha Lane Fox. Marks & Spencer chief executive Sir Stuart Rose is also a backer.

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