PRINT THIS PAGE

Cinven nears sale of UK pub stake for £609m

Cinven is expected to double its money when it sells its interest in UK pub chain, the Unique Pub Company, for £609m to Enterprise Inns.

Enterprise Inns made a £75m cash investment in the initial £2bn acquisition of the company which was backed by private equity firms Cinven, Morgan Stanley Princes Gate Investors and Legal & General Ventures in March 2002. The firm now plans to buy-out the remaining stake to achieve sole ownership by exercising its call option for the outstanding stake.

‘This has been a highly successful investment for Cinven which will result in a return of over two times our invested capital,’ said Dick Munton, a director of the firm. ‘When we made this investment, we knew that we were backing a management team with the ambition and experience to create significant value. The performance of the business has been excellent and is reflected in Enterprise Inn’s announced intention to exercise its call option.’

Cinven contributed £235m of equity to the original acquisition. Legal & General Ventures invested and Princes Gate invested £60m and £77m respectively.

Copyright © 2004 AltAssets