LGV sells Amber Taverns to MaxCap for £80m

Ellie Pullen
04 June 2014

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LGV Capital has sold Amber Taverns, an operator of 95 pubs in the North of England, to the companyтs previous owner MaxCap Partners in a secondary management buyout valuing the company at ТЃ80m.

Debt has been provided for the deal by BlueBay Asset Management via its Direct Lending Fund.

The business acquires distressed or failing freehold pubs and aims to have 100 pubs open by the end of 2014. According to Amber Taverns, it has secured sites for a further five pubs to open over the next six months.

Previous investments
LGV acquired Amber Taverns in October 2010, taking an 84% stake for around £35m, according to unquote" data.

The deal rewarded Amber Taverns' selling shareholders – Unicorn Asset Management, Acuity Capital Management and MaxCap – with a money multiple of 2.7x.

The three firms had acquired Amber Taverns in June 2005, paying £5-6m for a stake in the company, according to unquote" data.

In November 2011, LGV provided the company with £1m in loan notes alongside a £4m revolving credit facility from Lloyds Bank.

Last September, Amber Taverns agreed a £27.5m funding deal with Lloyds to increase its portfolio of pubs.

Company
Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Preston, Amber Taverns operates 95 community pubs across the North of England and the Midlands.

The company recorded turnover of £33.2m in the year ending February 2013, as well as an EBITDA of £6.8m. It employs 30 staff. At the time of LGV's acquisition, Amber Taverns employed 10 staff and generated £14m in turnover as well as an EBITDA of £1.1m, according to unquote" data.

People
Clive Preston is the chairman of Amber Taverns. Paul Landsman is an investment director at LGV; Michael George is the founder of MaxCap.