UK: Reports say Greene King intends to sale up to 150 of its pub businesses

Greene King, the UK-listed pub retailer and brewer, has reportedly put around 150 of its pubs up for sale, Business Sale Report communicated October 19.

The move follows similar action by fellow pub operators Punch Taverns, Mitchells & Butler, Enterprise Inns and Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries, which analysts have linked to the forthcoming smoking ban in pubs and clubs throughout England.

The pubs included in the Greene King package are mainly small, tenanted freeholds with predominantly drinks-based sales, in the South of England. Pub operators are thought to be keen to increase the proportion of food-led operations to guard against any negative effects on the drinks trade from the smoking ban.

Potential buyers for the pubs include the new Indeed Group, which has been set up by Dawnay Day, and Admiral Taverns and Trust Inns, who have both bought similar operations in the past.
Accountancy firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers is thought to be handling the sale.

20 October, 2006