Young’s to sell most tenanted pubs for £53m, eyeing a freehold future
Brewery Young’s has agreed to sell 56 of its 63 pubs in its Ram Pub Company estate for £53m, to add some ‘firepower’ to existing pub upgrades ahead of no restrictions.
The brewery has made “attractive returns” investing and operating managed pubs and hotels, its boss said, which it will use the newly secured funds to continue.
“Young’s sole focus will now be on operating well-invested and premium managed pubs and hotels. We have a proven history of making attractive returns from investing in high-quality pubs and this disposal will provide us with additional firepower to upgrade our existing pubs and capitalise on attractive acquisition opportunities that may come to the market,” chief executive Patrick Dardis said.
Shares opened 0.3 per cent higher this morning, taking its total share price to 1,620.
The brewery is set to keep hold of the remaining seven pubs for the long term, it said in a statement this morning. The deal will complete on 9 August.
The board decided that it was the best way to increase value for shareholders, withdrawing from the tenanted model, to focus solely on operating individual and predominantly freehold managed pubs and hotels.
“During lockdown, we invested a total of £17M in improving the pubs in our managed estate and the purchase of two new pubs: Enderby House in Greenwich and Alban’s Well in St Albans,” the brewery boss added.
“We are delighted to be welcoming back our customers and are already seeing encouraging trading, despite some restrictions remaining.”