Spirit buys Tom Cobleigh

Privately owned managed pub company Sprit Group has bought Tom Cobleigh Holdings from its venture capitalist owners Electra Partners Europe.

Spirit refused to disclose how much it paid for the 75-strong managed pub group, but it is believed to have shelled out more than £100m for the company.

The estate includes 48 pubs operated under the Tom Cobleigh name and 27 under the Mighty Nice Pub flag.

It also includes 29 Playbarns, which when added to Spirit's 97 Wacky Warehouses, brings the total number of children's playbarns operated by the group to 126.

In the year ended December 2002, turnover at Tom Cobleigh reached £60m, excluding the 28 tenanted pubs its sold to Daniel Thwaites Plc for £12m.

Spirit now has more than 1,070 pubs.