G1 to take Scottish Star sites

G1 Group is to acquire 12 Scottish community pubs from Heineken’s Star Pubs & Bars pub estate as part of a joint deal with Admiral Taverns

Kevin Georgel, chief executive of Admiral Taverns.

The deal will see G1 initially acquire 29 pubs from Heineken, which have been put on the market to allow Heineken to progress with its acquisition of Punch. G1 will later sell 17 of these pubs, all of which are located in England and Wales, to Admiral, while it retains the 12 Scottish sites. Admiral is currently in the process of selling its own business to investment first Proprium Capital Partners and Tennent’s parent firm C&C Group and will finalise that deal before taking on any of the Heineken properties.

Admiral chief executive, Kevin Georgel, said: “Today, our nationwide estate of community pubs showcases the supported-tied model at its best. Through our distinct and award winning operational approach, our dedicated and passionate team have worked hard to build strong and enduring relationships with our licensees.

“We have an excellent track record of integrating new pub portfolios into our estate and working together with these licensees to invest behind their pub business, building progressive, working partnerships.”

A spokeswoman for G1 said:  “We are delighted to confirm today that Iona Pub Partnership, sister company of the G1 Group, have acquired several new sites across the country. The transaction structure saw G1 work in partnership with Admiral Taverns who acquired the non-Scottish units being disposed of by Heineken. Having been in operation for 12 years, we hope that this recent purchase will solidify our position in regards to our continued focus on investment and growth across Scotland.

“As to the new sites and their respective tenants, we hope that they will join in our excitement for this new chapter, and take great confidence in our growing reputation as one of the country’s most diverse and well supported pub leasing companies. Iona offer a robust network of support at all levels from business & food development to marketing, and we look forward to welcoming the additional publicans into the fold and extending that level of support to them.”