Greene King buys London pubco Realpubs for £53m
Brewer and pub operator Greene King has bought London pubco Realpubs for £53.1m.
The acquisition includes 14 "urban-local" sites in the capital, including the Hand and Flower in Chelsea and the Bald Faced Stag in East Finchley.
The UK's second largest pub company has taken advantage of a £400m banking facility and is continuing to look for other value-adding acquisitions to take its total managed pub estate from 926 to about 1,100.
Chief executive Rooney Anand said: "The addition of Realpubs takes the total number of Greene King sites within the M25 to 217 and positions us strongly ahead of, during and after the Olympics in London in 2012, when London and its pubs and restaurants will be visited by tourists from across the world."
Malcolm Heap and Nick Pring, the two founders of Realpubs, have been retained for a minimum of two years and will become part of the retail management team.
Meanwhile Greene King announced that like-for-like sales at its managed pubs had risen 4.7% in the 51 weeks to 24 April, with an increasing contribution from food sales. Like-for-like earnings at its 1,334 tenanted pubs rose 0.8%.
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By Gemma Rowbotham
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