Red Oak Taverns to acquire 9 Hall & Woodhouse pubs
The deal, which is for an undisclosed sum, makes Red Oak’s third pub package acquisition this year. It followed a 10 pub package from Wells & Co in February and three pubs from Reclamation Inns in January.
It takes the company, which was founded in 2011 by Mark Grunnell and Aaron Brown, to almost 200 sites.
The pubs acquired from Hall & Woodhouse are largely community and rural destination venues in the south of England.
Great fit
List of Hall & Woodhouse pubs acquired:
Sun Inn, Godalming, Surrey
Dog & Bacon, Horsham, West Sussex
Drax Arms, Wareham, Dorset
White Hart, Sherborne, Dorset
Bear, Horsham, West Sussex
The Tavern, Horley, Surrey
Park Crescent, Brighton, East Sussex
Plough, Crawley, West Sussex
Plough, Reigate, Surrey
Red Oak co-founder and chief executive Mark Grunnell said he was delighted to be acquiring the pubs and was looking forward to welcoming the business partners to the business.
He added: “This acquisition will be the third portfolio acquisition this year for us and shows our commitment to growing a quality pub estate throughout the UK by working with pub owners and family brewers in a professional and diligent way. These highly performing pubs will be a great fit to our business.
“The commitment to growing our business remains undiminished by the pandemic and this will be the third portfolio acquisition we have made this year, we have also added three individual pubs to our estate, taking our total acquisitions this year, so far, to more than 20 pubs.
“The pandemic has only temporarily interrupted our growth plans and we are ready to take advantage of investment opportunities that become available with a view to doubling the size of our business over the next two years”.
Long-term strategy
Hall & Woodhouse managing director Matt Kearsey said the company had always actively managed its pub estate and highlighted that it was looking for opportunities to expand its estate.
He added: “[We] made the decision to sell these pubs to take advantage of strong demand, in order to reinvest in other properties which are better aligned to the long-term strategy of our excellent business partnership estate.
“We are currently seeing some exciting opportunities in the market to buy high quality pubs in prime locations, often with accommodation. We have already bought two freehold pubs, and have a further five sites in solicitors’ hands.
“We thank our business partners for their loyalty over the years, it has been a pleasure working with them, and we are confident that their pubs will continue to thrive under Red Oak’s ownership.”
