Young’s buys rival pub chain Redcomb in £34m deal

Pub company Young’s has acquired Redcomb, which owns 15 sites across London and the south east, in a £34m cash-free deal. The transaction will increase Young’s managed estate from 185 to 200, bringing the company’s portfolio to a total of 270 including its 70 tenanted pubs in its Ram Pub Company. Young’s plans to invest in the pubs over the next two years which it said would “naturally have a short-term impact on profitability but should have a positive impact thereafter”. Launching in 2010, Redcomb Pubs most recent figures posted in October 2018 showed turnover for the group reached £16.7m for the year ending 30 June 2018, representing an increase of 10.6% year-on-year, with profits over the same period rising by 11.9%. Redcomb Pubs managing director, Dan Shotton, said: "Our journey from single site in 2010 to the 15 pubs and bars you see today has been an incredibly exciting and rewarding one. We’ve always had a real passion for creating great pubs and have been lucky enough to have built an amazing team around us who share our passion and have helped us grow. "Through this acquisition we are confident that the estate will continue to go from strength to strength, benefitting from its alignment and synergy with the ethos at Young’s." Young’s chief executive Patrick Dardis added: “The acquisition of these pubs represents an excellent opportunity to continue the growth of the Young’s managed estate. They fit very well with our expansion strategy which is focussed on high quality managed houses. These pubs are all in prime locations, where our premium offer will work extremely well.” Mark Draper, managing director of Redcomb Pubs, added: "We’ve always challenged ourselves to create premium pubs that we’d be proud to visit ourselves, it has been the very bedrock of our business. Our thanks go to the entire team and all our suppliers in helping us make Redcomb such a success. "In our opinion, the pub sector remains a vibrant and exciting space to conduct business, and still, if done correctly, has a valued place in the hearts and minds of the great British public. Both Dan and I have ‘pubs’ in our blood. Where that takes us next marks an exciting new chapter that we can’t wait to build upon."