The City Pub Group plc (CPG) has acquired three London new pubs and exchanged contracts on one in Brighton, totalling £8.1m.
The sites are the Travellers Friend in Woodford, and two Jam Tree pubs in Chelsea and Clapham. CPG has exchanged on a premium seafront cafe-style bar in Brighton.
The Travellers Friend pub (pictured), also known as 'the Spivs', was acquired from private owners in an off-market transaction. It is a well-established, freehold pub with considerable heritage dating back to 1840s. It has strong potential for growth with a new dining area opening last October.
The Jam Tree sites in Clapham's Old Town and King's Road in Chelsea were acquired from a small independent pub company and are both leasehold. The pubs are locally renowned for their modern seasonal food, art deco interiors and expansive beer gardens.
The seafront café-style bar in Brighton is a long leasehold with Brighton City Council as the landlord. It will complement the CPG's other two Brighton pubs.
The company has also announced that the Old Ticket Office in Cambridge and the Pontcana Inn in Cardiff have now opened.
Following these acquisitions, CPG now has 41 trading sites and the size of its estate (once exchanged pubs are completed and development pubs are opened) will have increased to 46.
The group expects to announce its interim results for the six months ending 30 June 2018 in mid-September 2018.
Chairman Clive Watson said, 'The purchase of these pubs demonstrates CPG's broad acquisition network. All fit our criteria and will sit well alongside our existing sites.
'The Travellers Friend, the two Jam Tree sites along with the new Brighton seafront venue will help position the business for future growth and expansion in 2019. The existing trading estate further underpins our expectations for 2018.
'Our pipeline remains strong with further deals currently being appraised. Our strong balance sheet will enable us to capitalise on these. We are now being offered pubs from many sources and we are able to transact at attractive prices in a buyer's market.
'We are confident that we will own c.50 pubs by the end of this year, ahead of the plan set at IPO and have the potential to continue to grow the estate faster than planned.'