Deltic ‘surprise’ as Revolution walks away from acquisition deal

Bar and nightclub operator Deltic Group has expressed its “surprise” at the announcement that Revolution Bars Group would be terminating discussions to acquire the company.

On 7 September 2018, it was confirmed that Revolution Bars Group was in the “preliminary stages” of considering an acquisition of the rival nightclub operator but insisted no agreement had been reached. On 10 October, the company said it concluded that “a transaction with Deltic would not be in the best interests” of its shareholders.

The Deltic Group released a statement which said it was “disappointing” that the talks that only made it to the early stages, were leaked before saying “the decision not to proceed comes as little surprise”.

It said it believed there was “a compelling financial case for a merger” but it respected Revolution’s decision. It then confirmed Deltic remained a shareholder in Revolution.

Deltic said: “The board would also like to reiterate that Deltic is a well-run business with a strong financial performance over many years. The Revolution merger proposal was only one of several routes that the Deltic directors were exploring in order to take the company forward.

“It continues to believe the late night economy is a good investment and the doubling of profits over the last six years, with approximately the same number of venues, underpins that view. Deltic will continue to seek profitable growth both through continued investment in the current business and through a number of possible strategic acquisitions.”