TAKEOVER BID FOR PUB CHAIN
BURTON company Marston’s has revealed it has received a takeover bid from a private equity group as the pub industry continues to grapple with the affects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Platinum Equity Advisors has made an “unsolicited non-binding” takeover offer for the firm and would fund it entirely in cash.
The news comes just a month after Marston’s completed the takeover to run Welsh brewer SA Brain & Co.
Marston’s is currently valued at £555 million, having seen its shares plunge then partially recover, since Covid hit.
The proposal comes as all of Marston’s 1,368 pubs, in line with the rest of the country, remain shut to customers due to the national coronavirus lockdown.
In a statement to investors, Marston’s said: “The board of Marston’s PLC notes the press speculation and confirms that it has today received an unsolicited non-binding proposal from Platinum Equity Advisors regarding a possible cash offer for the entire issued, and to be issued, share capital of Marston’s. The board will evaluate the proposal with its advisers and a further announcement will be made in due course. There can be no certainty that any firm offer will be made for the company, nor as to the terms on which any firm offer might be made.”
Under stock market rules, Platinum now has until the close of play on February 26 to make a formal offer. Industry experts have been predicting potential deals in the sector as longsighted investors look through the current crisis of lockdowns to bet on improved markets in the future.
In May last year, Carlsberg and Marston’s announced a joint venture called the Carlsberg Marston’s Brewing Company. The Danish brewer took a 60 per cent stake while Marston’s controls a 40 per cent as well as taking a £273 million cash payment.
Marston’s beers include Banks’s, Hobgoblin and flagship ale Pedigree, which is brewed using the union brewing system at its Burton brewery.
Its shares yesterday leaped 16 per cent, by 12p to 87p.