According to The Sunday Times, the brewer’s Star Pubs & Bars business is close to a deal with Stonegate following talks over the summer.
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Heineken currently operates around 2,350 pubs across Britain through Star Pubs & Bars.
Stonegate, which has around 4,500 pubs, has been reviewing options for its Platinum portfolio, made up of about 1,000 freehold pubs.
The group previously said options for the portfolio could include a refinancing, partial sale or full sale.
Platinum estate
Stonegate confirmed last year it was exploring options for the Platinum estate, after reports the group was considering a sale of around 1,000 pubs.
In June, Stonegate said no decisions had been made after reports Terra Firma was considering a £300m bid for around 300 pubs from the portfolio.
The Sunday Times has now reported Heineken is nearing a deal for a similar number of sites, although it said there was no guarantee a deal would take place.
The report also said other potential bidders remained interested in the estate.
A Stonegate spokesperson told The Morning Advertiser (MA): “As we have previously said, we continue to look at options for the Platinum portfolio, which could include a refinancing, partial sale or full sale of the Platinum sites.
“No decisions have been made. We are continuing to make good progress on our transformation strategy, with profits up 9% to a record £201m in the first half of the year.”
Estate changes
The reports come after Stonegate confirmed earlier this month it had identified around 100 further pubs to transfer into its Pub Partners business as part of its ongoing estate transformation strategy.
Fuller’s also recently exchanged contracts to acquire 10 pubs in a £35.25m deal involving Stonegate and an institutional property investment company.
Stonegate has also faced scrutiny from the Pubs Code Adjudicator, which launched an investigation earlier this year into concerns around parts of its leased and tenanted estate. The regulator has not reached any conclusions.
A Heineken spokesperson told The MA: “We are aware of reporting regarding a package of pubs offered to the market by the Stonegate Group, but as a business we will not comment on speculation of this nature.”
