Punch snaps up a further 14 pubs

Punch Pubs and Co has acquired 14 pubs in a package from real estate investment company Aprirose.

The sites, which are located across the country and currently operated by Blackrose Pubs, will join Punch’s 1,300-strong estate.

It comes after Punch bought 24 pubs from the Milton Three pub group, the operator of the Wear Inns portfolio, earlier this year.

This latest deal takes Punch’s total acquisitions in the last 12 months to more than 50 pubs.

Stephen Allen, group property director at Punch, said: “We look forward to investing in these pubs and supporting them with our industry-leading resources, ensuring their long-term success."

Aprirose, together with its investment partners, originally acquired the pubs five years ago.

Punch was acquired by Fortress Investment Group, a US-based investor owned by Japan’s SoftBank, for an undisclosed sum in December 2021.

In November last year, the pub group appointed three strategic advisors to the board, including Dame Karen Jones, current non-executive director of Whitbread and Mowgli.

Punch chief executive Clive Chesser will leave the business this month to lead the Pure Gym Group. The pub group’s chief operating officer Andy Spencer will step up to the chief executive role on 27 September.

The locations Punch Pubs and Co has acquired span across England. These include:

• The Anchor, Bexley
• Shield & Dagger, Bristol
• The Auction House, Coventry
• The Lochside, Newcastle upon Tyne
• Vesper Gate, Leeds
• The Claro Beagle, Harrogate
• The North Camp, Farnborough
• The Village Inn, Swindon
• The Vine, Uxbridge
• The Wheatsheaf, Camberley
• The Fox, Cambridge
• The Woodlands, St. Helens
• Game Cock Inn, Blackburn
• The Royal Oak, Bolton