TDR's Stonegate bolts on Piper's Be At One

The transaction values Be At One at around £50m, according to a recent report by Sky News, and is an exit for Piper's fifth fund, which closed in 2011 on £107m.

Be At One will continue to operate as a standalone business following the deal, with its existing management team and head office staff retained. The company's founding directors, Rhys Oldfield, Steve Locke and Leigh Miller, will step down.

The newly acquired company has a pipeline of new sites planned, with a recently opened location in Soho, London, and two sites in Chelmsford and Birmingham due to open by the end of August.

The bars acquired by Stonegate from Novus are located in central London. Combined with the Be At One acquisition, the enlarged group will now operate 739 venues across the UK.

The transaction comes eight years after TDR first invested in Stonegate and two years after the GP launched an annex fund to inject fresh cash into the remaining companies in TDR II. Last year, a market source told Unquote that TDR raised €835m for this fund, with Stonegate highlighted as one of the businesses requiring further investment, alongside life insurance provider Retirement Advantage.

The deal also comes nine months after Stonegate failed in its bid to acquire listed UK bar chain Revolution Bars Group for £101.5m.

Under TDR's tenure, Stonegate has undertaken an acquisitive expansion strategy that has increased the company's estate from 333 pubs. The business operates under various brands including Slug and Lettuce, Walkabout and Yates.

TDR's initial investment in Stonegate saw it acquire the 333 managed pubs from UK operator Mitchells & Butlers for £373m in August 2010.

Stonegate generated a turnover of £720.9m in the year ending in April 2018, according to a statement, with adjusted EBITDA of £106.2m.

Previous funding
Piper invested £8m for a significant minority stake in Be At One in 2011.

Company
Founded in 1998, Be At One is a chain of cocktail bars, with 33 sites, of which 17 are located in London. The remainder of its sites are located across Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Reading and Cardiff.

The business generated a turnover of £36.9m in the 53-week period ending in April 2017, according to a statement, with EBITDA of £9m.

People
Stonegate Pub Company – Simon Longbottom (CEO).

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• Topics
• Expansion
• Exits
• UK / Ireland
• Consumer
• United Kingdom
• TDR Capital
• Build-up
• Piper Private Equity
• Trade sale