Stonegate acquires Fever Bars and more sites from Novus Leisure

23-Jan-2019 - Last updated on 24-Jan-2019 at 10:32 GMT

You give me Fever: Stonegate Pub Company has acquired Bar Fever Ltd as well as more sites from Novus Leisure

Stonegate Pub Company has announced the acquisition of Bar Fever Ltd (Fever Bars) and six sites from Novus Leisure – both for undisclosed sums.

These acquisitions will take Stonegate’s total number of operating venues to 772 once completed.

The six sites acquired from Novus Leisure - four Balls Brothers sites and two branded as Tank & Paddle - all occupy central London locations such as the West End, the City and Canary Wharf.

The Morning Advertiser reported in July 2018 that Stonegate Pubs had acquired 15 London venues from Novus Leisure as well as cocktail bar operator Be At One.

Pastures new

Fever Bars, established in 2007 with the opening of its first site in Cheltenham, operates 32 venues comprising 29 bars - including concepts such as Fever Boutique, Zinc and Moo Moo - as well as three Bierkeller Bavarian pubs.

The acquisition sees Stonegate expand into eight towns where it is currently unrepresented including Taunton, Tunbridge Wells, Basingstoke and Macclesfield.

Stonegate plans to operate the sites acquired as part of the deal within its 90-strong Venues division, where they will add to the group’s late night offering.

Fever’s two founding directors, Mark Shorting and Nigel Blair, will remain with the enlarged group while the operational management team will be retained.

Helping venues flourish

Discussing the sale, founding directors of Fever Bars Mark Shorting and Nigel Blair commented: “We have had a fantastic eleven years building Fever from one venue into a company of 32 sites.

“The key to Fever Bars' success has been putting our people and customers first.

“We are so grateful to have had so many good people at all levels within the company, focused on customer experience and delivering superb entertainment.

"We believe Stonegate is the right company for our people and venues to flourish.

“We look forward to seeing the enlarged group maximise the future growth potential of the Fever family and its venues.”

‘Excellent acquisitions’

Stonegate chief executive Simon Longbottom commented: “These are two excellent acquisitions for Stonegate, which play to our strengths both in terms of market positioning and geography.

“Fever Bars is a business we have watched with interest - and admired - for some time. It is a great cultural fit with our existing portfolio, complementing Stonegate’s businesses, as well as giving us a presence in some new locations.

“The additional portfolio of Nouvs sites being acquired comprise another tranche of high-quality assets which will further establish our leading credentials in London.

“We are already seeing the benefit of leveraging Novus’ acknowledged expertise in pre-booked sales, following our acquisition of 15 Novus bars in July last year, and look forward to building on this further over the year ahead.

“We look forward to working with the Fever Bars team, as well as new colleagues who will be joining Stonegate from Novus, and welcoming them into the wider group.”

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