Red Oak Taverns receives £42m bank loan

Red Oak operates 161 pubs, with the main focus of its portfolio mainly the south, south-west, north-west and the Midlands regions.

Co-founders Aaron Brown and Mark Grunnell started the business in 2011 and privately own it alongside a small number of individual investors.

Grunnell said choosing a lender was a competitive process.

Financial firepower

He said: "OakNorth was able to differentiate itself from other lenders by structuring a flexible and bespoke debt finance package for us, which significantly reduces our cost of capital and enables us to release funds, as required, in line with our acquisition strategy.

“The team has a thorough understanding of the market and, having already worked with us during the previous two years, fully understands how we run our business and drive our profitability and net asset value.

“They have also bought into our future growth plans, providing us with the financial firepower to take advantage of small and medium-sized acquisition opportunities.

“We particularly enjoyed meeting [the] credit committee and being given the opportunity to discuss our borrowing requirements directly with the decision makers.”

Buy and build

Mohith Sondhi, debt finance director at the bank, said its core focus was to help businesses achieve their growth ambitions.

He continued: “Both Mark and Aaron have proven with Red Oak Taverns that they can effectively acquire and integrate pub groups and continue to drive the business forward, even through uncertain and challenging economic conditions.

“Their successful ‘buy and build’ strategy has seen them grow to 161 sites in less than a decade and demonstrates the incredible ambition of the business.

“We are delighted to have supported them in this transaction and look forward to working with them on their continued growth in the future.”