Greene King has announced this morning that it has agreed terms to acquire all shares in the Spirit Pub Company. The offer is conditional on the acceptance of both companies’ shareholders.
Walker Boyd, chairman of Spirit, said: “Over the last several years Spirit’s team, under Mike Tye, has delivered a turnaround of the business and put it firmly on the growth path. Since the demerger we have pursued a successful strategy of investing in brands, people, infrastructure and property which, when combined with our strong balance sheet, positions the business well for future growth.
“The combination with Greene King will take this to the next level, creating the UK’s leading pub group with further opportunities for growth and accelerating progress towards our objectives of delivering attractive returns for investors, flawless operational execution for guests and compelling development opportunities for our people.”
Rooney Anand, chief executive of Greene King, said: “The proposed acquisition represents a key step towards our objective of building the best pubs and beer business in the UK. This exciting combination of the Spirit business with Greene King accelerates our momentum and is in line with our stated strategy of further improving the quality of our pub estate and increasing exposure to the growing eating-out sector.
“This offer represents a fair price for Spirit’s high-quality estate that fits well within the Greene King portfolio on both a brand and geographic basis, expanding our presence in the attractive London and South East area.”
