Pubs group sold off to brewer in £32.6m deal

Nov 15 2007 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal

THE chairman of North pubs group New Century Inns has vowed to maintain a significant operation in the region despite selling the firm for £32.6m.

The Billingham-based operator of 49 pubs across the North-East, Yorkshire and Derbyshire, was sold yesterday to Suffolk brewer Greene King, which is looking to increase its presence in the North.

However, chairman Alistair Arkley said a new company called New Century Enterprises would be formed which would remain committed to the North-East.

Mr Arkley, who is also chairman of the Passionate Pubs Company and Chameleon Pubs, said New Century’s Billingham office would remain as the headquarters of his other pub ventures and operate as a consultancy and accounting firm under the new banner.

Mr Arkley also said he planned to invest the money he made from the deal into a number of North-East business ventures.

He said: “We had reached a point where further significant acquisitions were needed to scale the business up to the next level and we took the decision that the best interests of the shareholders and licensees at New Century Inns were served by joining a larger organisation such as Greene King.”

Meanwhile, New Century Inns said the jobs of the dozen workers at the firm’s Billingham head office were safe while the group’s 49 tenants will see their contracts transferred to Greene King.

Greene King, which operates pubs and brews Greene King IPA, Old Speckled Hen and Abbot Ale, said the takeover would create a base from which to launch further growth in the North.

The New Century Inns deal is the latest in a series of acquisitions by the firm, including the Loch Fyne seafood dining chain for £68.1m last August.

New Century Inns will complement Greene King’s existing Laurel pub estate – acquired in 1994 – and its Midlands-based Hardy and Hansons pubs, which the brewer bought last year.

Greene King chief executive Rooney Anand said: “New Century Inns’ pubs are located across the North and North-East, areas where we are keen to grow our presence.”

The company said the pubs will provide “a strong strategic bridgehead for future growth in the region” which could include the acquisition of further freehold pub assets.

The pubs are also expected to help the wider distribution of its core ales, brewed in Bury St Edmunds.

New Century Inns was set up in 1999 by the former directors of Century Inns – Mr Arkley, Brian Lowe and Barry Whitehead. Mr Arkley has been a leading figure in Tees Valley since becoming managing director of the Camerons Brewery in Hartlepool in 1985.