After failing to land supermarket Morrisons, private equity giant Fortress has swiftly returned to its deal-making ways.
Yesterday, Fortress, which also owns Majestic Wine, closed a £1billion deal to buy Punch Pubs & Co – one of the UK’s biggest chains with over 1,300 pubs.
Punch owns Champs Sports Bars as well as other locally branded pubs, which are leased to, and run by, managers.
Fortress, which also owns Majestic Wines, closed a £1bn deal to buy Punch Pub Group one of the UK’s biggest chains with over 1,300 pubs
Fortress was beaten by 1p per share by CD&R in its quest for Morrisons, and many thought it would target another supermarket.
Instead, New York-based Fortress, which manages £40.9billion of assets, will buy Punch from Patron Capital and May Capital, who bought the chain in 2017.
It said yesterday it was paying outright for the group, with no extra debt to fund the purchase.
Punch boss Clive Chesser, who will hold on to the top job under the new owners, said the takeover is ‘very positive news’.
He added: ‘We welcome their ambition and commitment to work alongside the existing management to invest in the business with innovation and capital to ensure our long-term success.’
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