The Royal Bank of Scotland is gearing up for a sale of its portfolio of 900 public house freeholds, and will appoint advisers from Sapient Corporate Finance and its own corporate finance team.
The bank became one of the UK’s biggest pub landlords in 2000 when it bought the estate from Scottish & Newcastle, which has continued in the role of property manager and beer supplier to the offloaded pubs since the deal completion.
Though a price has not been disclosed, it has been predicted that the portfolio - which features the freehold of Guy Ritchie’s Mayfair pub, The Punchbowl - is worth up to £600 million.
It is believed that the sale has been in the pipeline for some time already. RBS previously received interest for the pubs from three property businesses and one trade player back in 2009.
The sale marks the latest in a spate of pub deals indicating improved confidence in the sector. Greene King snapped up Realpubs’s 14 London pubs in a £53 million deal. While Geronimo Inns sold 26 pubs to Young & Co’s pocketing £60 million.
