Punch updates tenants on Heineken bid

By Georgina Townshend

10-May-2017 - Last updated on 11-May-2017 at 08:33 GMT

Full co-operation: Punch update tenants on Heineken deal

Punch has emailed its tenants to tell them that the sale of 1,900 pubs to Heineken is expected to be completed before the end of August.

In the email, sent last week and seen by The Morning Advertiser, Punch chief executive Duncan Garrood wrote: “This morning we announced our 2017 interim results to the city. The results confirm that, as anticipated, subject to review by the Competition and Markets Authorities (CMA), the sale of the business to Patron Capital (and associated sale of the Punch A group to Heineken) is expected to complete before the end of August 2017.”

At the end of March, the CMA said its investigations into Heineken’s bid to take over the pubs would be extended by five weeks to 29 May, after the regulatory body previously “stopped the clock” to gather more background information.

CMA gets full co-operation

A spokesman for Heineken confirmed the news, and said the completion is still subject to approval from the CMA.

“Along with other parties, we continue to co-operate fully with the CMA investigation, which is now expected to be concluded by 15 June 2017,” the spokesman said.

Heineken’s proposed takeover, backed by investment firm Patron Capital, would boost the number of sites operated by the pubco to 3,000 pubs.