Amber Taverns changes hands in £80m deal
AMBER Taverns, the North West company which acquires and renovates unloved community pubs, has changed hands in an £80m private equity-backed deal.
The Blackpool based business, which has 95 pubs, mostly in this region, has been sold by Legal & General Capital to MXP Partners and BlueBay Asset Management.
Last autumn Amber, said it wanted to increase its existing portfolio to around 120 across the North, Midlands and North Wales by 2016.
In the year to the end of February 2013 Amber achieved record results with profits rising 22% to £3.9m on sales of £33.2m, up 30%. EBITDA was up 33.3% to £6.8m.
Amber Taverns was founded in 2005 by an experienced team led by chairman Clive Preston and managing director James Baer.
The latest investment will give the company a third private equity owner – it was originally backed by Unicorn Asset Management, Acuity Capital Management and MaxCap Partners until they sold to Legal & General Capital in 2010 in a deal valuing the business at £35m.
As well as Legal & General selling its 82% stake in the company, the management have also reduced their shareholding slightly.
The biggest shareholder will be BlueBay, followed by MxP – an investment firm controlled by the family that once owned Weetabix – and management.
Amber has also agreed a £34m debt facility with HSBC, to allow it to boost its growth plan.
MD James Baer said the funding would allow Amber to roll-out is acqusitions and refurbs at a rate of 10 to 12 a year, and also look at “opportunities to do something a bit bigger and bolder.”
A team from Baker Tilly in Manchester including Gary Houghton, Stephen Green, Steven Radcliffe and Rikesh Patel provided due diligence on behalf of MxP Partners.
