C&C backs out of Spirit Pub deal

Drinks group C&C said on Tuesday that it does not intend to proceed with its €1 billion offer for Spirit Pub, as the UK pub group "no longer meets the group's risk adjusted return criteria".

The Irish cider maker had been engaged in a bidding war with UK brewer and pub owner Greene King for the pub group.

In November, Green King said it had reached an agreement on a recommended offer for Spirit Pub, valuing Spirit Pub at about £773.6 million. Spirit Pub had previously rejected a takeover approach from C&C.

Spirit Pub, which was spun out of Punch Taverns in 2011 and runs chains such as Chef & Brewer, Fayre & Square and Flaming Grill, is split into more than 750 managed pubs and 450 leased pubs. Managed pubs account for nearly 90 percent of the group’s revenue.

Greene King is shifting its focus to its own-managed retail business, comprising restaurants, hotels and pubs, as it competes for a bigger slice of the dining market and to that end is reducing its tenanted and leased estate