Stonegate’s biggest deals: a timeline of the pubco
We track the biggest deals in Stonegate’s near nine-year history in its rise to become the largest privately owned managed pub company in the UK.
August 2010 – Backed by TDR Capital, Stonegate Pub Company was established and acquired 333 sites from Mitchells & Butlers in a £373m deal including Scream bars’ 52 sites.
June 2011 – There’s been a merger. Eight months of discussion concluded as Stonegate Pub Company and Town & City Pub Company – the operator of Yates and Slug & Lettuce – merged to create a 550-site pub company under Stonegate’s name.
August 2013 – Stonegate completed the acquisition of 13 Living Room sites from Premium Bars & Restaurants (PBR) in a deal thought to be valued at around £10m.
July 2014 – OLIM Property, a property investment company led by former Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Matthew Oakeshott, acquired 15 freehold pubs let to Stonegate for £28.3m.
November 2013 – Stonegate completed the acquisition of 78 sites from the administrators of Bramwell Pub Company – a deal believed to be in the region of £35m. The acquisition took Stonegate’s portfolio to 623 pubs.
February 2015 – A 23-strong package of pubs let to Stonegate Pub Company was sold by its private equity backer TDR Capital to real estate investment company Mansford for around £30m. It was speculated at the time that Stonegate was gearing up for an IPO in late 2015.
June 2015 – Stonegate acquired 15 sites formerly owned by Scottish pub, bar and hotel operator Maclay Inns.
September 2015 – 53 pubs from Tattershall Castle Group’s 62-pub estate were acquired by Stonegate, which was the fourth-largest managed pub company at the time.
September 2016 – Stonegate exchanged on a package of 10 JD Wetherspoon pubs – comprising sites in High Wycombe, north Finchley, Torquay, Berwick, Walton-on-Thames, Banbury, Cheadle Hulme, Hull, Reading, and Newquay. Following the deal, Stonegate’s estate numbered 664 venues.
December 2016 – Stonegate acquired Walkabout brand owner Intertain for an undisclosed sum – adding 30 sites to its growing stable.
February 2017 – Stonegate bought two pubs from JD Wetherspoon – taking its total acquisitions from the pub behemoth to 12 in four months – while also acquiring a trio of London pubs from Faucet Inn. The latter expanded the company’s portfolio to 693 sites.
June 2017 – A collection of 13 pubs, operated by Stonegate on a leasehold basis, was sold for £23m by Coffer Corporate Leisure to BlackRock.
July 2017 – Stonegate made a conditional proposal to acquire Revolution Bars Group on the basis of an offer price of £2 per share. Revolution had 50,000,000 ordinary shares in issue.
September 2017 – Stonegate Pub Company strengthened its property portfolio in London through the acquisition of the Sports Bar & Grill concept – taking its estate up to 703 sites. The buyout placed Stonegate in London transport hubs at Waterloo, Marylebone, Victoria, Farringdon and Canary Wharf for the first time.
July 2018 – Stonegate agreed the acquisition of Be At One – the operator of 35 bars across the UK - alongside the purchase of 15 London venues from Novus Leisure – both for undisclosed sums. Stonegate stated it would operate Be At One as a stand-alone eighth format alongside its wider portfolio.
January 2019 – Stonegate announced the acquisition of Bar Fever Ltd (Fever Bars) – which operates 32 venues comprising 29 bars, including concepts such as Fever Boutique, Zinc and Moo Moo, as well as three Bierkeller Bavarian pubs – and six sites from Novus Leisure – both for undisclosed sums.
July 2019 - Stonegate agreed to buy pubco Ei Group – the operator of 4,000 sites – for £1.27bn making Stonegate the UK’s largest pub owner.
Stonegate and Ei Group deal
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