British pub group Punch Taverns said today it was buying privately owned Pubmaster for £1.2 billion including debt.
Punch, which also beat forecasts with a 22 per cent rise in annual profit, said it would make over £10 million a year of cost savings from the deal and that it would boost earnings.
It expects to complete the deal, which will make it the biggest player in Britain's fast-consolidating pubs sector, at the end of November.
