Amber Taverns sells on four former Cains pubs

Preston-based pub company Amber Taverns has sold for an undisclosed amount four of the pubs it bought from Cains in April.

The pubs, which include the Elephant and Castle in Newtown, Wales, the Ellesmere in Ellesmere, Shropshire, and the Arena in Liverpool city-centre, formed a package of 23 sites sold on by PricewaterhouseCoopers after Cains Beer Company was placed into administration in August 2008. They were all sold to individual licensees.

The latest pub to sell is the Corbett Arms Inn in Market Drayton, Shropshire. Estate agent Pooks, which handled the sale said the pub had been sold to a "local business family" for around £200,000. The pub was placed on the market in April immediately following its purchase from Cains.

Amber Taverns chairman Clive Preston said: "The pub was bought as part of a package and didn't suit our profile. Our pubs are more city-centre circuit pubs."

Preston confirmed that the other pubs in the deal had all been refurbished and re-opened. Amber Taverns currently has 45 pubs in its estate. There are no plans to purchase further properties at present.

The company was established in 2005 to develop a chain of 50 unbranded freehold public houses across the North of England.