NewRiver REIT has sold its pub business, Hawthorn Leisure REIT, to Admiral Taverns for £222.3m.
The group had announced it was looking to divest the pub business in April 2021, and will use the proceeds to strengthen its balance sheet and reduce its loan to value (LTV) to below 40%.
The sale of Hawthorn, which comprises 674 leased & tenanted and operator managed community pubs, will also allow NewRiver REIT to focus its portfolio on resilient retail.
With its balance sheet strengthened, once the deal has completed, will enable the majority of future proceeds from non-core retail disposals, of which £73m is exchanged or under offer, to be recycled into resilient retail assets and NewRiver’s regeneration portfolio.
Allan Lockhart, chief executive of NewRiver, said: “Over recent years, we have grown Hawthorn to become the UK’s leading community and wet-led pub business. As a consequence of this, we received significant interest from a range of potential buyers for Hawthorn, following the divestment plan we announced in April 2021.
“We have now agreed the sale of Hawthorn which, once completed, will deliver on our key priority to reset Loan to Value, strengthening our balance sheet and enabling us to focus on executing our resilient retail strategy.”
NRR : NewRiver REIT sells pub business for £222.3m