Lloyds Banking Group sells Admiral Taverns for £200m

Lloyds Banking Group has sold pub group Admiral Taverns to an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management in a deal rumoured to be worth around £200m.

Paveley said: "This is a great transaction for Admiral Taverns and a tremendous start to 2013. We are delighted that Cerberus has chosen to invest in Admiral and that it recognises Admiral's future potential. Cerberus's support will help Admiral develop the business further and strengthen its reputation among pub licensees as the best tenanted pub group in the country."

Senior managing director at Cerberus, Lee Millstein, said: "Admiral has one of the strongest management teams in the UK leisure industry and we are pleased to be working with them. Their successful transformation of the Admiral business into a leading UK pub group has put the business on an upward trajectory. Admiral's business provides an ideal platform for the acquisition of additional tenanted pubs in the UK, and we look forward to working with the company's management team and employees to grow the company."

Lloyds Banking Group has been a shareholder in Admiral Taverns since a refinancing of the business in November 2009. Admiral said the deal would not impact day-to-day operations nor Admiral's strategy.

Paveley added: "Throughout this process, our over-arching aim has been to maintain our day-to-day support of our licensees and ensure continued smooth operations for our staff and our supply partners, and it's pleasing to have achieved this."

Lloyds Banking Group and the Admiral Taverns management were advised by PWC. Cerberus was advised by Sapient Corporate Finance.

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