Punch Taverns sells five pubs for £9.7m
Punch Taverns has sold five pubs to Manica Properties for £9.7m.
The five freehold sites are all in central London and the agreement is set to complete at the end of this month.
For the financial year ended 17 August 2013, the pubs being sold generated earnings before interest and tax of £500,000. As at 1 March 2014, the pubs had a book value of £4.4m.
Today's news came after details of the company's latest proposals to shareholders in relation to a planned restructuring emerged last week. Punch, which has nearly 4,000 pubs, is under pressure to reduce its £2.3b debts.
Under the latest proposals, which would see a debt-for-equity swap, existing shareholders would be left with just 15% of the company, with the debt being cut by £600m. The proposals have been put together by a group of bondholders that includes Alchemy Partners, Oaktree Capital Management, and Glenview Capital Management.
Punch Taverns' shares fell by 29 after the news on Tuesday last week.