by The PMA Team
Mill House Inns chief executive Ted Kennedy has set a target of expanding the company from 60 to around 100 sites after completing a secondary management buyout.
The £90m buyout, backed by Bank of Scotland, came after Pheonix Equity Partners decided to sell its stake in the business.
Kennedy said: "We are a small company that would like to get a little bit bigger. We're not looking to become the next Spirit. But we would like to grow to around 100 sites biggish sites that are above the industry average.
"We always felt as a management team that we are about 70% of the way there with Mill House. We feel there is a lot left in Mill House some of the sites could still perform better."
Kennedy disclosed that there had not been a full auction process for the company. Instead, nine of the most active buyers in the industry were given presentations on the company.
Wolves & Dudley, Greene King, Robert Tchenguiz and the billionaire Reuben brothers were among the parties who received presentations. "The interest in the company was amazing, especially when you consider we didn't run a full auction," he said
Kennedy, a former Whitbread executive, led a £60m management buy-in at Mill House in 2000. The company made Ebitda of £4.471m in the year to September 2003.
Nigel Irvine, director of integrated and acquisition finance at Bank of Scotland Corporate, said: "Mill House is a progressive, customer-focused pub company with a bright future in store. We are looking forward to working with the first class management team to secure future growth opportunities."
Bank of Scotland is providing debt and equity funding for the Mill House acquisition. The sale by Phoenix is the latest in a series of exits that have included the disposals of the Tootsies restaurant chain and the Jimmy Choo shoe company.