Brewer Morland buys exchange bar diners

Morland, the Oxfordshire-based brewer, has moved into the bar-restaurant market with a £32m deal to buy 24 Exchange Bar Diners from Allied Domecq.

The American-style bar restaurants, the first of which was launched in Cobham, Surrey, in 1982, are aimed at 18- to 45-year-olds and families and offer a North American and Tex-Mex menu.

Morland plans to refocus the brand by introducing a new menu and improving quality. A company spokesman said it planned to expand the chain.

Three Exchange Bar Diners will be converted immediately to alternative Morland concepts, while Pinkerton's, Morland's existing American bar in Maidenhead, will be turned into an Exchange Bar Diner.

The move would not mean any slowing in development of Morland's existing brands, such as IceObar and the Newt & Cucumber pub chain, said Peter Furness-Smith, retail director.

"We have made a commitment to keep growing the business," he said.

Morland also agreed to buy 16 pubs from Whitbread for £3.4m last week. Both acquisitions will be funded through a £22.2m rights issue.