The UK’s largest pubs group today announced the sale of a further 41 pubs to Admiral Taverns for £10.5m.
Enterprise Inns, which now operates 8,650 unbranded pubs in the UK, said the move was part of its strategy to dispose of sites that do not fit in with its profile.
The sale comes less than a year after the Solihull-based firm sold 241 pubs to Admiral for £61m.
Today’s sale includes 31 freehold and 10 leasehold pubs across England and Wales.
Enterprise Inns reclaimed its position as the UK’s largest pubs group when it bought the Unique Pub Company last year.
The addition of 4,000 sites helped lift full-year profits by 33% to £231.2m in its last financial year.
Since the acquisition, around 70 staff at Unique lost their jobs when the head office was transferred from Thame, Oxfordshire, to Solihull.
Admiral was created in 2004 to acquire tenanted pubs. Its latest acquisition brings the number of pubs bought in the past 12 months to 370.
Admiral director Gary Landesberg said: “Hopefully this is the start of a very active year for us and we are keen to add to our rapidly expanding estate.”
Shares in Enterprise Inns fell by 4p to 750.5p today.
References: EGi News 02/03/05
