Punch invites lessees to bid on 500 pubs
Punch Taverns, the leased and managed pub group, has invited offers from existing lessees on the 500 pubs it plans to sell, M&C Report understands.
Thorley: sites will be offered to lessees
The official hoisting of the "for sale" sign above the properties comes after Punch intimated it would sell such a package at its recent results announcement.
Licensees are effectively being given first refusal on the freehold properties before the company appoints an agent to market them to a wider audience.
It is thought that most of the 500 pubs will be sold on an individual basis.
Chief executive Giles Thorley told M&C: “This is in line with what we said we would do, and we always write to licensees when their pub has been identified for sale, inviting them to consider making an offer.”
Announcing results on 4 November, the company said it had identified 500 leased sites, generating £10m of profits, that were “unlikely to generate long-term sustainable growth” and were likely to be sold or converted for alternative use within the next few years”.
A small number of the 500 sites are thought to be closed.
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