Wed, 13 Sep 2023 | BUSINESS SALE
St Austell Brewery has acquired The Bath Pub Company in a deal that adds to its 184-strong portfolio of pubs in the West Country. The deal brings an additional four pubs into the group’s estate, reflecting its acquisitive growth strategy.
Three pubs, The Locksbrook Inn, The Moorfields and The Hare & Hounds, will join the company’s managed pub estate, bringing that portfolio up to 43. The fourth pub, The Marlborough Tavern, will join St Austell’s leased and tenanted estate. Post-acquisition, The Marlborough will continue to be operated by Bath Pub Company co-founder and Commercial Director Justin Sleath.
St Austell Brewery Chief Executive Kevin Georgel commented: "We are fully committed to developing the quality and size of our pub estate. As such, we are investing significantly in our existing pubs, whilst also acquiring new sites and businesses such as The Bath Pub Company.”
Georgel added that the four pubs acquired “all have a strong alignment with our long-term plans and are a perfect fit for us, in terms of market and consumer positioning.”
The Bath Pub Company co-founder and Managing Director Joe Cussens added: "St Austell Brewery is a fellow independent business, rooted in the West Country, which we have respected and admired for a long time.”
Cussens added that he was confident that St Austell Brewery was “the custodian best suited for the next stage of The Bath Pub Company's development” and that it has “the resources and know-how to grow it further to release the full potential of the pubs in the years to come."
Speaking to The Morning Advertiser, Cussens said that the company “haven’t been immune” to the challenges of “a tumultuous few years” for the pub sector and that he and partner Justin Sleath had begun exploring the possibility of an exit in early 2022. He continued that St Austell was considered “an ideal company” to take over the business, adding that the disposal was not a distressed sale.
In the Bath Pub Company’s most recent accounts, for the year ending March 26 2023, its fixed assets were valued at £528,148 and current assets at £393,742. At the time, the company’s net liabilities amounted to £184,600.
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