Young's confirms £60m Geronimo Inns acquisition

Young & Co, the London-based pub operator, has confirmed its acquisition of Geronimo Inns, the managed pub group, for £60m in cash.

The deal, which was exclusively revealed on thePublican.com​ earlier this month, will see Geronimo's co-founder Rupert Clevely join the Young's board as an executive director and work as managing director of the 26-site strong Geronimo business.

Clevely's wife Jo, who also co-founded the business back in 1995, will remain on board to "drive design strategy".

The deal, financed via a new £100m facility with Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays Bank, will take Young's estate to 247 outlets.

The group said the acquisition "brings to Young's a new, parallel and growing concept, targeting a differentiated but complementary demographic. The Young's and Geronimo pubs will continue to be run discretely within the enlarged business."

Geronimo's pubs currently generate average sales of around £23,000 with food accounting for over 40 per cent of sales. Young's said the combined businesses will result in £1.5m of annual savings.

Its estate comprises 10 prime London freehold pubs, 13 leasehold pubs and three concessions.

Steve Goodyear, Young's chief executive, said the deal represented "an excellent opportunity to accelerate the growth of the Young's managed estate.

"It fits very well with our expansion strategy which is focused on high quality, food-led, managed houses in the London area, a strategy that we will continue to pursue with both the Young's and the Geronimo formats. Geronimo's team also brings considerable expertise in the operation of leases and concessions in high footfall retail locations such as airports and shopping centres and this represents a new growth opportunity for us.

"I am particularly delighted that Rupert Clevely has agreed to join our Board and that his senior management team will be staying. We look forward to combining the best of the expertise from both teams to drive the enlarged group forward."

Clevely said Young's was the "perfect home" for Geronimo.

"I'm very thrilled," he said today. "It's a funny day when you sell a business that you founded and nurtured over a number of years, but Young's is a great fit, they get what we do, and the Geronimo inns concept will go forward with them.

"Key to our success is the entrepreneurial flair and individuality, proven food expertise and home-from-home hospitality for which Geronimo is renowned and which our customers will continue to enjoy.

"The continued involvement of my trusted team will ensure that Geronimo's unique spirit will be maintained and that the Geronimo footprint will develop alongside and as a complement to Young's as the combined business looks to expand both formats."