Greene King beer pump and pint of beer are seen in a pub in central London
Greene King revised its offer after being rebuffed by Spirit Reuters

British pub chain Spirit Pub Company (SPC) is in talks with ale maker and bar conglomerate Greene King over a revised takeover bid.

Greene King had originally offered SPC £661m ($1.1bn, €835m) in September, but after being rebuffed the 1,900 pubs-strong chain has upped its offer to 109.5p per share – which would value SPC at £723.3m.

As part of the deal, SPC shareholders would retain 29% of the business, but the firm says that it is waiting on a recommendation from the board before making a decision.

"The Board of Spirit has indicated to Greene King that it would be willing to recommend an offer at the level of the Revised Proposal to Spirit shareholders subject to the satisfactory resolution of the other terms of the offer," said SPC in a statement.

Greene King has targeted SPC as it looks to make a move into restaurants and pubs that serve food after its revenues began to dwindle.

The chain announced in July that its preliminary annual profits were down 5% to £105m.

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