Shepherd Neame spends £15m on 13 Punch pubs

The ongoing disposal of Punch Taverns' pubs continued afoot today as Shepherd Neame bought 13 freehold pubs in a deal worth nearly £15m.

The pubs, of which three are managed and ten are leased, are all located in South East England.

The £14.86m deal, expected to complete on May 26, brings Shepherd Neame's total estate to 378 pubs (49 managed and 329 tenanted and leased).

The acquisition is expected to generate more than £1.9m of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amoritisation from both pub operations and own-brewed barrelage in the first full financial year.

Jonathan Neame, Shepherd Neame chief executive, said: "This is an excellent opportunity to acquire a package of high quality individual pubs within our core trading area. The acquisition is in line with our strategy and will further improve the quality of our pub estate."

The purchase has been financed by a new five-year term loan of £15m arranged by The Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group. At the same time, the company's existing £10m revolving credit facility has been extended from 2012 to 2014.

The deal follows Shepherd Neame's purchases of the Jamaica Wine House and the Westminster Arms, two pubs in central London.

Punch is believed to be prepared to accept offers on any of its pubs and in recent months has agreed sales with the likes of Adnams, Peach Pub Company, Fuller's and, yesterday, Heartstone Inns.

Adnams buys three iconic Suffolk pubs from Punch >>

Punch solicits offers for any of its pubs >>

Heartstone Inns buys fifth site >>

Peach Pub Company buys two freeholds from Punch Taverns >>

Fuller's snaps up Punch pubs in £21.1m deal >>

Shepherd Neame to invest £3m to help licensees >>

By Daniel Thomas

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