Reuben brothers see £52m bid for Premium Bars & Restaurants rejected

Multi-millionaire siblings David and Simon Reuben today claimed they tabled a £52m bid for Premium Bars & Restaurants (PBR) to the group's banks, only to see their offer rejected.

In a statement the brothers said they had made a "substantial offer of £52m" for PBR, which went into administration last week.

The pair already own around 30 per cent of PBR, increasing their original holding after private equity firm Dawnay Day, which also owned PBR stock, collapsed last year.

The Reubens said their bid "represented the best available price for the company while keeping the business trading as a viable entity and safeguarding the vast majority of jobs within PBR."

The brothers said they were told "that each of their offers were the highest and fairest bids but the banks [led by RBS] are the parties deciding PBR's future".

The terms of the latest offer were revised in terms of capital structure but the price is similar to the original offer, the pair added.

The statement went on: "The Reuben Brothers remain interested in the company. They might still acquire some of the assets if the administrators were to decide to break up the company.

"However they feel that the senior lenders have frustrated any conceivable opportunity to keep the business trading as a viable entity and as a result will fail to safeguard the vast majority of the jobs within the group, which the Reuben's offer would secure."

PBR, which operates Living Room and Bel & The Dragon bar restaurant brands, is now in the hands of administrators at accountants BDO Stoy Hayward.

BDO has closed three PBR sites while it looks for potential buyers of the business, but the rest of the group's estate remains trading.