UK: Greene King plc acquires T.D. Ridley & Sons Ltd. for £45.6 million
Greene King plc announced on July 4 the acquisition of T.D. Ridley & Sons Ltd. (Ridley's) for a total consideration of £45.6m including the assumption of £8.8m of debt. The consideration is payable in cash on completion, which is anticipated to take place later today, and will be financed through existing debt facilities.
The Ridley's business consists of 71 freehold tenanted pubs and 2 leasehold tenanted pubs, a brewery at Hartford End, near Chelmsford, a quality free trade business, a distribution centre in Ipswich and unlicensed property with a value estimated at £6.0m. The pubs are predominantly located in Essex and complement our current estate of 2,064 pubs.
In the 12 months ended 26 September 2004, Ridley's reported turnover of £15.1m and operating profits before exceptional items of £0.5m. At the year-end, gross assets, based on historical costs, were £13.1m.
The management of the pubs and the brewing of a number of Ridley's brands will be transferred to Greene King's operations in Bury St Edmunds and the Hartford End brewery will be closed. This process is expected to be completed this autumn.
The acquisition is expected to enhance adjusted earnings per share in the first full year of ownership, following the expected achievement of synergies of £3.5m per annum.
Commenting on the transaction, Rooney Anand, chief executive of Greene King, said, 'Ridley's has a high quality pub estate, some popular ale brands and a sound local free trade business. The business is ideally located in a strongly developing part of the country which is close to the centre of our operations.
We are delighted with the purchase and believe Ridley's will benefit from Greene King's scale and investment and our expertise in managing an integrated tenanted and brewing business.'
Nicholas Ridley, chairman of Ridley's added: 'After many years of running the company as a local independent business, and following long deliberation by the board, we now believe that Ridley's needs to become part of a larger group. We view Greene King as the best owner to develop our business for the future.'
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