Fuller's looking for further acquisitions

London brewer Fuller's would be happy to spend as much as £200m on another major acquisition after the successful integration of the Gale's estate.

Chief executive Michael Turner said the integration of Gales, acquired for £92m, had gone so well the company was ready to consider another purchase of a like-minded regional brewer who wanted a "white knight' buyer who shared its culture.

He said: "Whether we spend £100m, £150m or £200m would depend on the opportunity available to us.

"Our bank is happy to extend [our debt facility] based on the fact that we spent so well.

"We wouldn't want to get involved in an auction process, but we are quite capable of another acquisition in the future."

Turner indicated that he was not aware of any regional or family-owned brewer thinking of selling-up at the moment.

"There are others we're interested in, but you never really know when this sort of sale is going to happen," he said.

Fuller's is to use the £17.1m raised by the sale of the Brigstow Hotel in Bristol to buy more pubs. It already has five managed pubs lined up - all food-led pubs with

gardens within the London delivery area.

The company reported "very strong underlying growth" in its managed pubs where like-for-like sales are up 4.3%.

"If you do anything really well you increase market share," said Turner. "We do wine extremely well and our beer brands are among the finest customers will find. We're one of the few chains with like-for-like growth in cask ale."

Turnover at Fuller's was up 35% to £91.1m in the six months to 30 September. with profit before tax up 31% to £10.9m.

Fuller's buys pubs off gourmet

Fuller's is buying two unbranded pubs from Gourmet Holdings for £2.85m. The two pubs are the Five Bells in Bedfordshire and the Talkhouse in Oxfordshire. In

September, Gourmet Holdings announced it was selling

six pub-restaurants, four of which are Bel and The Dragon brand venues to focus on its Richoux brasserie business. It said that discussions regarding the sale of Bel and The Dragon are underway.