Elliott Advisors joins bidders for £300m Stonegate pubs package

Elliott Advisors is understood to have joined a shortlist of bidders to acquire a package of Stonegate’s pubs thought to be valued at £300m.

The activist investor firm has driven boardroom overhauls at listed businesses including BP. Its bid for Stonegate’s pubs is led by the firm’s private equity arm, which counts book retailer Waterstones among its previous acquisitions.

Sky News reported that the shortlist, which also includes Terra Firma Capital, is vying to acquire a package of 300 of Stonegate’s premium pubs.

Stonegate is working with investment bank Eastdil on the sale, which is part of a plan to offload up to 1,000 of its pubs to reduce the group’s debt pile.

TDR Capital-backed Stonegate was founded in 2010 with 333 pubs. The chain now has more than 4,500 sites under brands such as Slug & Lettuce and Be At One following its acquisition of rival chain Ei Group in 2020.