A portfolio of 25 pubs across the North East and Yorkshire is set to hit the market in the New Year.
The joint administrators of Milton Portfolio Property 3 Limited have appointed agents at Avison Young and Watling Real Estate to market the portfolio of pubs. The appointment comes two weeks after Ryan Grant and Howard Smith of insolvency specialist Interpath Advisory were called into the company, and launched a hunt for a buyer of the business and assets.
The pubs made up the former Wear Inns business which was acquired five years ago by property investment and hotels firm Aprirose, the parent of the Milton companies, in a £22.4m deal with Business Growth Fund and NVM Private Equity. Following a reorganisaton the pubs were transferred to Milton Portfolio Property 3 Limited while the running of the businesses was left to Aprirose subsidiary Blackrose Management Ltd.
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The 25 pubs are located across the North East and Yorkshire, and comprise 21 freeholds and four long leaseholds. The administrators have previously said the venues are strong performers and most recent accounts for the owners say the business has historically been highly profitable and cash generative
The full list includes The Black Bull, East Boldon; The Black Bull, Morpeth; The Britannia, Houghton-Le-Spring; Cross Keys, Washington; The Crown, Wickham; Dirty Habit, Whitley Bay; The Elephant, Ashington; Greens, Sunderland; The Guide Post Inn, Springwell Village; The Lambton Arms, Chester Le Street; Lloyds Arms, Grimsby; The Millstone Hotel, Gosforth; New Inn, Wetherby; The Old Courthouse, Barnsley; The Ox Inn, Oxhill and Porter Cottage, Sheffield.
The list is rounded off with The Prior, Doxford Park; The Priory, York; The Red Lion, Wakefield; The Ship & Royal, South Shields; The Smiths Arms, Billingham; The Sun Hotel, Shipley; The Victoria, Whitley Bay; The Whistle Stop, Beeston and The White Bear, Barnsley.
Peter Constantine, managing director of the leisure team at Avison Young, comments: “We are delighted to be able to bring this portfolio to the market. This presents a rare opportunity for an operator to take on an established portfolio of strong performing pubs within a fairly tight geographic area. We anticipate strong demand for the pubs, both as one or a couple of lots and on an individual basis.”
Newcastle based Emma Turnbull, associate director at Avison Young, added: “With the Company in administration, this will be a full open sale process. We will be gathering information in the forthcoming weeks with a view to launching a full marketing campaign in the New Year.”
Ryan Grant, joint administrator and managing director at Interpath Advisory, added: “The joint administrators continue to trade all 25 pubs while we seek a buyer for the business and its assets. We look forward to working with the teams at Avison Young and Watling Real Estate to bring this high-quality portfolio to market at the optimum time to realise maximum value for creditors.”
