Young’s Sells 56 of it’s Pubs to Punch Pubs & Co to Focus on ‘Well-Invested and Premium Pubs and Hotels’ Within it’s Portfolio
Main Photo: The Brook Green Pub, Hammersmith, London
Date: July 2021
Name: Young’s Pubs Hotels & Inns
Location: UK wide, with a focus on London,UK
Number of Keys: TBA
Seller: Punch Pubs & Co
Buyer: Young’s has sold 56 of its tenanted pubs to Punch Pubs & Co as it turns its focus to operating ‘well-invested and premium pubs and hotels’ within its portfolio.
The pubs are operated by Ram Pub Company, with the sale leaving seven properties retained within the tenanted business segment of Young’s. The deal with Punch was secured for £53m.
The sale was first revealed in May this year and bosses said the disposal will allow them to focus on their strategy of operating “premium, individual, differentiated and predominantly freehold managed pubs and hotels”.
Chief executive Patrick Dardis said: “Young’s sole focus will now be on operating well-invested and premium managed pubs and hotels.
“We have a proven history of making attractive returns from investing in high-quality pubs and this disposal will provide us with additional firepower to upgrade our existing pubs and capitalise on attractive acquisition opportunities that may come to the market.
“During lockdown, we invested a total of £17m in improving the pubs in our managed estate and the purchase of two new pubs: Enderby House in Greenwich and Alban’s Well in St Albans,” he adds.
He added that sales remain encouraging, despite continued restrictions, and said he believes the group will emerge from the pandemic in a stronger position.
Part of the finance from the deal will be used to buy any new freehold pubs to add to the Young’s portfolio.
THPT Comment: Out of 220 UK pubs, pre the sale of this portfolio, only some 23 have hotels attached, somewhat smaller than it’s competitors such as Fuller’s (1,000 rooms out of 400 pubs), Wetherspoons (55 hotels out of 925 pubs), Greene King (100 hotels out of 3,100) and Marston’s (54 out of 1,700 pubs). Given pubs are a fairly UK specific phenomenon, it has quietly become a sector for hotels in it’s own right….and most of them offer great design rooms.
First Seen: Boutique Hotelier
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