Punch sells 23 pubs to tenants
Punch Taverns says 1,000 of its tenants have expressed an interest in buying the freehold of their pub, but so far 23 deals have gone through.
That's according to the pubco's latest interim results, and property agents this week give their views on why sales have been slow.
Finance broker Acorn Commercial Finance said it has 450 deals in negotiation with Punch, but last count showed there had been little movement on the offers currently with the pubco.
Paul Thompson, partner at the firm, told Morning Advertiser last month that six deals were with solicitors, 12 were with banks, and 20 were waiting on valuations, while the rest were waiting on agreed offers.
Thompson said: "Punch isn't that desperate to sell. Their results were maybe better than a lot of people expected. It's a case of getting these offers to a level that Punch finds acceptable."
Graham Allman, managing director of property agents GA-Select, said his company currently has 51 pubs in negotiation with Punch where the licensee wants to buy the freehold.
Allman said 30 of these had been accepted, but deals haven't been completed. Offers ranged from £299,000 to £1.5m.
"Any business transfer is taking twice as long as it would have 18 months ago," he added.
GA-Select has been working with Abacus Commercial Finance for the sales.
Punch's interim results showed losses of £122m following an exceptional charge of £184m — this included a £147m charge for pub impairments. This charge is applied when the book value of a property exceeds its fair market value.
