THE pub group behind the Slug and Lettuce, Living Room and Yates’s brands has bought 15 former Maclay Inns pubs and hotels.
Stonegate Pub Company acquired the outlets, which include the Tullie Inn at Balloch, the West Port in Linlithgow, the Three Judges in Glasgow, the Village Inn at Arrochar and the Rule in St Andrews, for an undisclosed sum. Maclay Group went into administration in January.
The 15 pubs were marketed by CDLH on behalf of administrators EY with a guide price of £11.7 million for the group. Individual prices ranged from £380,000 to £1.35m for the 13 freeholds; two of the properties were available on a leasehold basis. The deal is expected to complete in early July.
Stonegate Pub Company chief executive Simon Longbottom said the acquisition of the 15 outlets comes after a period of “efficient estate planning”, which has seen the group dispose of a “number of sites” in the past two years.
“The prudent reviewing and planning of our estate has enabled Stonegate to invest in a high quality, predominantly freehold business that further strengthens our portfolio within Scotland,” he said.
“We look forward to welcoming the teams in situ into the Stonegate family.”
CDLH director Alan Creevy told SLTN he was “very pleased with the outcome”.
“We had a number of offers for the entire group, for parts of the group and for individual assets,” he said. “It was a very good result at the closing date.
“EY went out of their way to ensure all the accounts were up to date and the staff have been first class.
“I’m very pleased with the outcome.”
EY’s Colin Dempster and Gavin Yuill, joint administrators of Maclay Group and Maclay Inns Ltd (MIL), said the sale to Stonegate represents “excellent value for the group’s creditors”.
“This represents an excellent result for MIL, its employees and creditors,” said Yuill.
“We have been impressed with Stonegate’s approach during the sales process, and we are looking forward to working closely with Stonegate over the coming weeks to facilitate a smooth transition of all units and staff to it.”
