Punch Taverns plc has today completed the acquisition of the entire share capital of Conquest Inns Ltd from Ann Street Group Ltd (and others) for a cash consideration of £26.1 million on a debt free basis.
Conquest Inns Ltd operates 61 tenanted pubs in London, East Anglia and the South East of England.

Audited financial statements for Conquest Inns Ltd for the year to 27 January 2002 show profit before tax of £1.1m after charging interest of £1.0m and administrative expenses of £1.7m.  The 61 pubs (including 5 acquired during the current financial year and therefore excluded from the financials above) will be integrated into the existing structure of Punch, which will provide significant savings within administrative expenses.  Net assets acquired in the books of Conquest Inns Ltd at completion was £18m.

This acquisition, with the 34 pubs acquired from Spirit Group Ltd which are due to complete by the end of January, takes the total number of pubs within the estate to 4,484 and the number of pubs acquired since August 2002 to 191.

Giles Thorley, Executive Chairman of Punch Taverns, said;

“We are pleased with this addition to our portfolio which will strengthen our position in these key geographic areas.  We continue to find good acquisition opportunities and these acquisitions coupled with the organic growth from the core estate and investment is allowing Punch Taverns to grow steadily.  We welcome our new retailers and look forward to working with them.” 

Ends