May Capital lines up former Enterprise MD for pubs role

02-Apr-2014 - Last updated on 03-Apr-2014 at 08:36 GMT

Greene King placed the c.300-strong package of tenanted pubs on the market last year

May Capital, the private-equity group led by Noah Bulkin, has lined up Gerry Carroll — former MD at Enterprise Inns and Little Chef — to manage the c.300-strong tenanted pubs package it is in advanced talks to acquire from Greene King (GK).

It is thought that if the deal for the package — believed to be valued at c.£85m — is successful, Carroll will initially run the new group with a streamlined management team while other operational functions are outsourced.

It is understood May Capital, which is also in talks to secure c.50 pubs from Robert Tchenguiz’s former R&L Properties vehicle, is looking to build a significant estate of tenanted pubs through a number of further acquisitions.

Project Lake

Carroll left Enterprise in March 2012 after more than five years with the company, where he was responsible for 3,400 pubs. He previously spent nearly two years as managing director at Little Chef and has also had stints as an operations director at Vue Cinemas and Harvester.

Carroll is currently CEO of Tor Consultancy & Management, which offers consultancy and management services to the leisure industry.

Greene King placed the c.300-strong portfolio, entitled Project Lake, on the market via PricewaterhouseCoopers at the start of 2013. The move is part of GK’s long-term strategy of growing its managed estate to c.1,100 and cutting back its c.1,250-strong tenanted estate.

Cerberus Capital Management, owner of Admiral Taverns, is also believed to have had talks with GK over buying the portfolio.