Greene King buys New Century Inns

Greene King has bought tenanted pub operator New Century Inns in a deal worth £32.6m.

New Century Inns, led by Alistair Arkley, consists of 49 tenanted and leased pubs - 48 of which are freehold.

The pubs are located in Northumberland, County Durham, Yorkshire and Derbyshire.

Greene King said the acquisition would provide a base from which to acquire further freehold pub assets in the North and provide further distribution opportunities for its core beer brands.

In the 12 months to October 2007, New Century Inns generated a run-rate EBITDA of £3m.

Greene King chief executive Rooney Anand said: "New Century Inns' pubs are located across the North and North East, areas where we are keen to grow our presence. ​

"The licensees at New Century Inns will benefit strongly from having access to a flexible range of agreements, attractive product range and supportive management style."

Alistair Arkley, Chairman of New Century Inns, added: "We had reached a point where further significant acquisitions were needed to scale the business up to the next level and we took the decision that the best interests of the shareholders and licensees at New Century Inns were served by joining a larger organisation such as Greene King. ​

"We look forward to seeing the pubs develop under Greene King's excellent stewardship."

New Century Inns, which has 13 staff, saw a slight drop in turnover at its last results announced in February.

Turnover dropped to £5.54m in the 53 weeks to 1 October 2006 from £5.91m the year before.

Its pre-tax profit was £933,059 compared to £1.01m the year before, after directors emoluments increased by £82,000.