Ultimate Leisure shareholders approve new share scheme

Shareholders in Ultimate Leisure have approved a new share scheme that will help provide the bar and club operator with up to £75m to spend on acquisitions.

The 14,792,900 new shares in Ultimate will be priced at 169p each, and be bought by the Newcastle-based company's two largest investors - property magnates the Reuben Brothers and the US-based Dawnay Day Group.

In January, chief executive Mark Jones announced that Ultimate wanted to issue the new shares to raise £25m and that its bankers would provide a "2-4-1" facility to take the firm's acquisition funds up to the £75m figure.

"With the repositioning of the business through an extensive investment in refurbishment, marketing and training, largely completed, we are now looking to taking the group forward to the next stage of its development," he said last night.

"The roll-out of Prohibition (an upmarket bar brand) is already being funded by bank debt and cash flow. This today is entirely separate funding, to take the business to a very different place. This fundraising will be used principally to buy companies."

Jones said he would be seeking to buy operators who serve the premium end of the leisure marketplace, including serving food, and attract a broader base in age profile than some bars.

Ultimate Leisure made a six-figure loss in the first-half of the year as it sold non-core units and closed others for refurbishment.

Ultimate Leisure raises £25m war chest to spend on acquisitions >>

By Daniel Thomas

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