Wessex Taverns' pubs sold again

The pub assets of 30-strong managed company Wessex Taverns have been sold for a second time in less than 18 months, the Morning Advertiser has learnt.

North-east entrepreneur Dave Larder, who runs Larder Leisure, has acquired the estate from Definnitive Leisure.

Definnitive was set up by former Pubmaster boss John Sands and Harry Costigan, the former Wessex operations director who became Definnitive's managing director, to buy Wessex.

Sands served as Definnitive's non-executive chairman but left the company in November last year.

Its accounts were expected at Companies House the same month but are overdue.

Wessex originally went into administration in March 2005 and it was six months before Definnitive acquired its assets in a deal rumoured to be worth around £20m.

The deal meant that all Wessex's creditors were paid what was owed them - around £2m in total. Industry sources suggested that Larder Leisure has paid around £8m to buy Wessex's former sites.

The company's 30 venues had a turnover of around £16.5m when it originally went into administration.

At the time of the Definn-itive takeover, Sands said: "While the time in administration has been intense, the company has come through unscathed.​

"These are very good pubs but there has been under-investment.

"We will get them up to speed and look at other opportunities."