Punch Taverns has accepted a £305m takeover bid from Heineken and Patron Capital Advisers, for 1,900 of group’s pubs. The deal will bring Punch's estate down to 1,600 pubs.
Punch said an offer from Patron Capital Advisers has received support from its three largest shareholders as well as Punch Taverns directors, representing about 52.3% of the firm’s existing share capital.
Under the terms of the fully-funded deal, Patron will buy the business through a new company called Vine Acquisitions.
Heineken has then agreed a back-to-back deal with Vine to buy about 1,900 of Punch Taverns' pubs, giving it a total of around 3,000 UK pubs. Patron is left with 1,329 pubs.