PUB group Pubmaster is close to landing a £500m deal for the Inn Partnership estate run by Japanese bank Nomura.

The Hartlepool-based group is hoping to seal the acquisition as early as Tuesday after rivals pulled out of the bidding.

The deal would make Pubmaster one of the largest pub operators in the UK.

The company already runs 2,000 tenanted pubs and Inn Partnership would add another 1,250 tenanted sites to its estate.

Chief executive John Sands confirmed Pubmaster's interest and said landing Inn Partnership would be a "quantum leap" for his business.

Pubmaster narrowly missed out on a takeover of brewery Wolverhampton & Dudley in August.

Mr Sands said: "We have put forward a full offer which we believe will be accepted by Nomura.

"We want to put clear blue water between where the group is today and our unsuccessful bid for Wolves. A deal of this size would do exactly that."

Inn Partnership was bought by Nomura from Greenalls for £375m in January 1999. the Unique and Voyager pub companies, which will likely be merged.

It is understood a rival bid for Inn Enterprise from Laurel, owner of the old Whitbread estate, was withdrawn on Friday afternoon.