Brakspear agrees sale to JT Davies

London based pub group JT Davies has announced a deal to acquire regional brewer Brakspear.

The Brakspear board has agreed a 915p a share offer from JTD Investments, part of the JT Davies Group. The deal values Henley-on-Thames based Brakspear at around £106m.

Brakspear said its independent directors intend to unanimously recommend the offer, which represents an EBITDA multiple, before property disposals, of around 19.8 and a 4.5 per cent premium on the average share price over the past 12 months.

JT Davies owns 51 tenanted pubs in London and the south-east, and has been run by the Davies family since it was founded in 1911. It has built up a 30 per cent stake in Brakspear over several years and approached the directors in September to discuss a deal.

Brakspear exited brewing directly after selling the Henley -on-Thames brewery site for development in 2002. It operates around 100 leased and tenanted pubs, while its beers are brewed by Wychwood Brewery at its site in Witney.

Michael Davies, chairman and managing director of JT Davies, has been a non-executive director of Brakspear since 2003. He said: "The enlarged business will benefit from a quality estate of predominantly freehold pubs and the strong relationships with both tenants and suppliers built up over many years.

"The proposed acquisition will also mean that Brakspear can continue under a family ownership structure, helping to preserve the heritage and tradition of the business."