Britain’s biggest pub group Stonegate considering £1bn sale of 1000 sites

Britain’s biggest pub group is considering selling 1,000 sites in a move that could be worth £1bn, according to reports.

Bosses at Stonegate Group, which owns 4,300 pubs across the UK, are in talks to sell around a quarter of that number as administrators try to clear nearly £3bn of accumulated debt.

The owner of Slug & Lettuce and Be At One has reportedly been talking to advisors about the possibility of launching “platinum” collections. Times.

This portfolio of 1,034 pubs of the group’s best properties forms a separate entity within the company and experts say it can be sold without damaging the rest of the stock.

Stonegate Group faced a £3bn deficit following its merger with rival company Ei in 2019 – just months before the Covid lockdown devastated the industry.

He failed to sell a string of bars before managing to securitize platinum bars with a £638 million loan from private equity firm Apollo.

Bosses are now considering their options as the non-call period on Apollo’s loan, which prevents them from selling or refinancing the pubs, expires in January. Times reports that one of the options considered by managers was to sell the bars in groups of hundreds rather than selling the entire group.

Stonegate’s chief executive, David McDowall, previously said it would implement a “transformation plan” but the firm has incurred a loss of £214 million by 2024. McDowall joined Stonegate in 2023 from BrewDog.

It also follows tough conditions in the UK hospitality industry in the wake of Covid and the cost of living crisis, as well as increases in employers’ national insurance contributions and the minimum wage.

Stonegate Group has been contacted for comment.