Octogenarian investor Jack Petchey has sold a portfolio of 167 pubs and has taken a stake in the purchasing company.
Petchey has sold the portfolio for £94.57m to London Town which will list on AIM in December.
The soon to be AIM-listed London Town shareholders will include the Richardson brothers’ investment company Robar Limited, Petchey’s Incorporated Holdings - which will own 22.2% each - and Lord Ashcroft’s charitable trust - Horizon Trust which will hold 53.8%.
The portfolio comprising 162 freehold and 5 long leasehold pub assets will be acquired from Save Investments Limited - a company controlled by Petchey Holdings.
London Town is now searching for a chief executive for the company. It has arranged a new debt facility of £72.8m from Anglo Irish Bank.
The portfolio has an estimated annualised gross income of around £6.5m. The average price paid per pub in the portfolio is around £566,000.