DLA Piper advises HEINEKEN UK on proposed acquisition of 1,900-strong pub portfolio

DLA Piper is advising HEINEKEN UK on its proposed acquisition of Punch Securitisation A, a portfolio of approximately 1,900 UK pubs owned by Punch Taverns plc (enterprise value £1.15 billion).

The acquisition is conditional on completion of the recommended cash offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Punch Taverns that was announced earlier today by Vine Acquisitions Limited, a company formed by Patron Capital.

HEINEKEN UK entered the pub market as part of its acquisition of Scottish & Newcastle’s UK operations in 2008. Since then, HEINEKEN UK has made significant progress building its Star Pubs & Bars business, having invested over £20 million per annum since 2014, resulting in an estate now comprising 1,049 leased and tenanted pubs. The Punch Tavern pub portfolio is highly complementary to the existing pubs business and will be fully integrated into Star.

John McKinlay, DLA Piper’s UK head of intellectual property and technology, and the firm’s relationship partner for Heineken UK said: “We are delighted to be advising Heineken on one of their most strategically important projects. This builds on the work we have done since 2015 in delivering a “one-stop shop” for all of Heineken UK’s legal requirements”.

Graeme Colquhoun, Heineken UK’s head of legal and company secretary added: “It has been great having DLA Piper working with us on this highly complex and strategic project, and their appointment reflects the close relationship and understanding that exists between our businesses.

“DLA made, and has consistently delivered on, commitments under the ‘one-stop shop’ arrangement that it has with Heineken, and this ensured that Heineken was very happy to choose DLA Piper to advise on its most important UK transaction in many years.”