Regent Inns snapped up one of the most celebrated sites in London's West End when it bought the leasehold on Home nightclub in Leicester Square on Wednesday [November 7]. The £2.5m deal marks the company's biggest acquisition ever.
The eight-storey club at no.1 Leicester Square will be developed into an entertainment complex to showcase Regents' flagship brands.
The group plans to convert the bottom three floors into one of its Australian themed Walkabout bars. The next two floors will trade as Walkabout's nightclub brand "Surfers".
It is understood that there will also be two Jongleur comedy club venues at the 48,000sq ft site.
Regent chief executive Stephen Haupt said the Leicester Square purchase was part of an ongoing strategy.
"We have worked hard to develop Regent's brands and this will allow us to showcase all of them under one roof for the first time," he said. "We want big venues with late licences in prime locations and clearly this landmark acquisition will go a long way towards that objective."
The property is licensed to hold 2,400 people, will create 135 jobs and is expected to open for business next spring.
The deal is subject to the transfer of existing liquor and public entertainment licences.
Big Beat, the restaurant and bar chain controlled by Scottish entrepreneur Ron McCulloch, originally opened the superclub in September 1999 to a fanfare of publicity and at a cost of £10m. Its sister club in Sydney was a raving success, but the London version struggled.
In March this year the club was closed down after a police raid and alleged incidents of drug dealing. Soon after, Big Beat collapsed into receivership.
KPMG was appointed to find a buyer for the business and the lion's share of the bars were bought up by the Mean Fiddler group.
Regent is known to be on the acquisition trail and recently made a £62m cash offer for the Pitcher & Piano chain of bars owned by Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries. Regent walked away when the bid was rejected.
Regent said the "awesome" performance of its Walkabout bars had fuelled a 15 per cent profit jump to £15.6m, on sales of £99m, when it reported in September.
It also announced that it planned to open 10 Walkabouts over the next year to add to the existing 24.
Related stories:
Big Beat buyer signs on the dotted line (11 October 2001)
Regent to drop bid for £65m bar chain (05 September 2001)
Big Beat buyer abandons plan to join stock market (23 August 2001)
Big Beat pubs to be run by Mean Fiddler Group (20 August 2001)
Home nightclub is put on the market (10 May 2001)
Home licence reinstated (26 April 2001)
Big Beat in receivership after drugs crackdown (11 April 2001)
London club Home loses licence (05 April 2001)
Big Beat boss fights Home revocation (31 March 2001)