Venture capitalist Jon Moulton, who failed in his bid to buy Longbridge 14 years ago, has snapped up Birmingham's Jongleurs Comedy Club - and pledged to improve the jokes.

Mr Moulton, best known in Birmingham for his abortive attempt in 2000 to buy the Rover car factory which was eventually sold to John Towers' Phoenix consortium, has finally sealed a city deal as part of a £20 million takeover.

The moneyman has bought bar and club chain Intertain, which owns five Jongleurs comedy clubs and 26 Walkabout Australian-themed pubs, both of which have venues in Broad Street, and six other bars across the UK.

The Jongleurs venue in Birmingham has had a chequered history, shutting three times in recent years.

The venue hit the rocks again in August 2013 when nightclub Bliss - which housed the comedy operation in its basement - shut down.

But Mr Moulton said better times could be on the way for the bar chain.

"I'm not going to be making radical changes to the company - making it for teetotallers and serving just hot drinks. As for Jongleurs, maybe I'll just improve the quality of its jokes," he said.

The venture capitalist, who bought Intertain through his turnaround fund Better Capital, has also promised to refurbish the Walkabout estate, including its Broad Street bar, which he said had been neglected for years.

"The major issue the company had was the lack of investment, this deal de-gears the balance sheet," he added.

Jongleurs was at the centre of controversy over a year ago when Nottingham-based Momo Leisure, which operated the comedy brand under a licensing agreement, went bust.

Financially-stricken Intertain has been owned by its creditors, including Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland, since 2009.

It was originally formed out of the collapse of Regent Inns in a controversial pre-pack deal.

Mr Moulton, who set up Better Capital in 2009 after quitting Alchemy Partners, the firm which failed to buy Rover 14 years ago, said he would be keeping on Intertain's management.