M&B, headed its by chief executive Tim Clarke, is believed to be sitting on bids from big pub groups that include Punch Taverns, Enterprise Inns and Greene King, as well as from property investors and private-equity groups such as GI Partners.
It is understood that Robert Tchenguiz, the property tycoon who tried to buy M&B earlier this year and has a minority stake in the group, did not submit an offer.
The level of interest has been such that the group is confident that the eventual sale price could exceed analysts’ estimates of £125m.
The company is expected to take a number of the potential buyers through to a second round of bidding. A deal could be concluded before the end of next month.
M&B, which owns the Harvester, All Bar One and Ember Inns brands, revealed on July 21 that it intended to sell the pubs.
Advertisement
The announcement coincided with the £497m purchase of 239 pub-restaurants from its rival Whitbread. Citigroup, the investment bank, was hired to handle the disposal.
M&B is churning its estate as it attempts to concentrate on larger sites that make more money from selling food than from beer sales. The 100 sites being auctioned are smaller “wet-led” venues — those that generate more income from drink than by serving meals.
The company has also said that it hopes to raise about £70m from the sale of individual pubs over the coming months.
The auction comes at a time when pubs are fetching sky-high prices. Industry observers were stunned at the £571m paid to Punch Taverns last June by GI Partners for an estate of 290 outlets. GI is thought to be keen to expand the portfolio with further acquisitions.
The sector’s most recent transaction was last Monday, when Admiral Taverns paid £318m to take a portfolio of 769 pubs from larger rival Enterprise Inns, its largest deal to date. Admiral became the third-biggest pub landlord in the UK as a result of the purchase, while Enterprise reportedly made a profit of about £60m from the sale.
Advertisement
M&B is feeling emboldened after seeing off a 550p-per-share bid from Tchenguiz in May. As well as capturing the 239 Whitbread sites, it has promised to return £500m to its shareholders after a refinancing.