Pub company Greene King buys Hardys & Hansons in £271m deal
Pub company Greene King has made a £271m agreed offer for 174-year-old Midlands pub company and brewer Hardys & Hansons (H&H).
The price represents a 44.5% premium on the closing price of H&H's share price on 9 June, the last business day before the start of the offer period.
Rooney Anand, chief executive of Greene King, said: "We're delighted at the prospect of joining forces with such a well-respected, well-managed company with first-class pubs and some tremendous beers."
H&H has 268 pubs, of which 83 are managed and 185 tenanted. The majority of the pubs are freehold and located in the East Midlands.
Beer brands include Olde Trip and Hardys & Hansons bitter.
Greene King said H&H's estate was a good geographic fit, located adjacent to its own East Anglian heartland, and would allow it to achieve scale in an area it had been underrepresented.
It predicts savings of £3m from the takeover in the first year, growing to £5m as it integrates the business into its distribution network.
In the 26 weeks ended 31 March, H&H reported turnover of £28.2m and pre-tax profit of £6.9m.
The deal is the latest in a long line of aggressive moves from Greene King, which have seen the regional brewer grow to a national giant with more than 2,400 pubs.
Last year it bought Scotland's Belhaven brewery and Essex pub company and brewer Ridley's, and in 2004 it won the battle for Laurel's 400-plus neighbourhood estate.
By Chris Druce
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