THE owners of Liverpool’s Adelphi Hotel were last night poised to agree a deal to secure the Pontin’s brand.

The Cheshire-based chain Britannia Hotels is understood to have entered the highest offer for the beleaguered Merseyside based business, which collapsed with debts of £47m last year.

Britannia, whose 36 properties nationwide also include the Prince of Wales hotel, in Southport, is the preferred choice of administrators, KPMG.

Both parties met for detailed talks this week with an agreement to purchase the iconic parks operator and its five sites now imminent.

Nine other bidders had included former Pontin’s directors Graham Parr and Southport man Ian Smith, who were keen to pursue a £100m transformation of the Pontin’s site in Ainsdale.

Plans to transform the Shore Road park were set to generate around £20m for the local economy each year, generating in the region of 1,100 park and construction jobs.

It is unlikely that the scheme would progress in its current guise under Britannia ownership, but it is believed that the chain has development plans. A source said: “Various offers have been made to KPMG, but Britannia’s is the highest.

“I believe it is an offer far higher than what KPMG would have been prepared to accept.

“Time will tell what their plans are, whether they want to continue the Pontin’s mentality or open more of a hotel complex.”