Dec 15 (Reuters) - British pub operator Punch Taverns Plc has agreed to a takeover offer from Dutch brewerHeineken NV and investment partner Patron Capital, itsaid on Thursday.
Britain's second-largest pub operator by number of pubs saidthe deal had received support from its top three shareholdersrepresenting about 52.3 percent of Punch's existing sharecapital.
Under the deal, each Punch shareholder would receive 180pence per share in cash representing a premium of more than 40percent to Punch's Tuesday close, a day before the deal wasfirst reported.
The offer values the share capital of Punch at 402.7 millionpounds ($502.17 million), the statement said.
Shares in Punch were up 7.9 percent at 191 pence at 1336GMT, above the offer price of 180 pence.
($1 = 0.8019 pounds) (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; editing by Jason Neely)
