Deltic driving for new deals

NIGHTCLUB-OWNER Deltic Group is eyeing bolt-on acquisitions as it lines up an expansion drive after a failed merger attempt with Revolution Bars.

Chief executive Peter Marks said the company wanted to snap up profitable businesses and had doubled the size of its property department to help spearhead growth.

While potential deals will be funded by existing cash flow, Mr Marks explained he would call on the support of shareholders or private equity firms if “something that looked a bit tasty” came into his sights.

He said after 35 years of experiencing the ups and downs of the night-time economy now was a good time for the business to invest.

He added: “We are now actively looking at building up a pipeline and we’ve doubled the size of our property department to do that.

“We are going to be looking at individual successful going-concerns on a piecemeal basis.

“We are going to be looking at new sites and to develop the Bar & Beyond brand as well as one or two of the club brands.”

Asked which areas the group is targeting, he said: “We have nothing in Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and Newcastle, so obviously they are in the mix.”

Deltic, Britain’s biggest nightclub operator, had become embroiled in a tussle for Revolution Bars, tabling an all-paper merger that would have seen Revolution own 65 per cent of a combined entity and Deltic 35 per cent.

However, its overtures were rejected as Revolution eyed a takeover from Slug & Lettuce owner Stonegate, which collapsed in October after Revolution investors snubbed a £101.5 million buyout bid.

Since then, Deltic has snapped up 1.5 million shares – or a 3 per cent stake – in Revolution.

Deltic, which owns 57 clubs and bars including the Prysm, Atik and Oceana brands, saw like-for-like sales climb 9.1 per cent to £16.4 million over the crucial September-to-October period.

‘We are going to be looking at new sites’