Piccadilly lessees to get letters confirming Admiral Taverns deal

Lessees with pubs formerly owned by Piccadilly Licensed Properties (PLP) will receive letters today confirming their new landlord is Admiral Taverns.

Scottish & Newcastle Pub Company (S&NPC), which managed the pubs on behalf of PLP, said it was contacting lessees of nearly 200 pubs telling them Admiral had acquired the freeholds to their pubs.

"Admiral Taverns Limited has indicated its intention to take on the management of these pubs with immediate effect and we are contacting affected lessees to inform them of this development," it added.

PLP underwent a pre-pack administration through accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers, with Admiral buying the 189 sites in a back-to-back deal for an undisclosed sum.

Jonathan Paveley, Admiral's chairman, said the pubco had offered the administrators "a good deal".

In an ironic twist, PLP's senior creditor was Lloyds Banking Group, which was also Admiral's biggest lender and which took a significant - though not majority - stake in the latter business last year in a debt-for-equity swap.

Chris Moore, trading director for S&NPC, said it was his "priority" to work closely with the Admiral team to ensure "an orderly and efficient handover of responsibilities".

"This announcement means that we are now free to concentrate our activities on an estate of around 1,300 pubs, principally made up of the Galaxy and Blue Star portfolios.

"Because our new structure envisaged a smaller and more simplified estate, there will be no impact on jobs or structure as a result of today's announcement - and no other lessees are affected," he added.

S&NPC would continue to supply those of its brands listed with Admiral to the affected pubs, Moore said.

The PLP pubs were part of a package originally owned by Midlands brewer Marston's which was sold to Alternative Asset Investment Management (AAIM), PLP's parent company, for £83m back in 2007. AAIM counted Sir Alex Ferguson and Simon Cowell among its investors.

Paveley meanwhile said Lloyds was "very pleased with the progress we've made with company, getting the finances sorted".

"The debt situation is improving rapidly and the operational performance is getting stronger," he added.

Last week Admiral announced that Peter Brook, who had spent two years heading its Phoenix 'turnaround' division, was leaving at the end of his contract with the group.