Revolution Bars walks away from multi-million nightclub deal

Cocktails at Revolution Bars

Manchester based Revolution Bars has announced it is ditching plans to buy nightclub chain Deltic.

The firm said in a statement to the Stock Exchange it would not be in the shareholders’ best interests to press ahead with the deal.

The news comes just over six weeks after Revolution said it was in the early stages of considering an acquisition.

The statement read: “Revolution Bars Group announces that, further to the announcement made on 7 September 2018, discussions regarding a transaction involving a possible acquisition of The Deltic Group Limited have been terminated.

“Following a period of engagement and due diligence, the board has concluded that a transaction with Deltic would not be in the best interests of the company’s shareholders.

“The company will continue to focus on delivering the positively received strategy outlined in its preliminary results announcement made on 2 October.”

Meanwhile, Deltic said it was “disappointed” that details of talks with Revolution Bars were made public.

In a statement, Deltic said it “still believes that there is a compelling financial case for a merger between the two companies, but respects the decision of the board of Revolution.”

It added: “It was disappointing that such talks, that were only ever at an early stage, were leaked and that the decision not to proceed comes as little surprise.”

It is the second time Revolution has turned its back on Deltic.

Last year Deltic tried to buy Revolution for £100m but was knocked back by the firm.

The board of Revolution decided it wanted to merge with Stonegate instead – owner of the Slug and Lettuce Group – in a deal valued at just over £100m.

However, the deal collapsed when Revolution’s shareholders voted to reject the merger proposals.

Deltic announced it holds a three per cent stake in Revolution Bars in November.

The firm owns and runs 57 clubs under brands including PRYZM and Fiction. It was formed from the wreckage of Luminar, which collapsed into administration in 2011.

Earlier this month Revolution, which has its head office in Ashton-under-Lyne, announced a £3.57m loss for this year.

Sales rose from £130.467m to £141.939m at the firm which operates 76 bars.

The firm said the second half was impacted by the uncertainty following corporate activity, management change, extreme weather and the FIFA World Cup.

Rob Pitcher, the new chief executive, started six days before the year end, and the group says the benefits of his new initiatives have yet to make an impact.

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