Cinven to exit Unique Pub Company

Cinven is to double its money on its stake in the Unique Pub Company following Enterprise Inn’s announcement that it intends to exercise its call option to acquire the 83.2% stake in the group. The consideration for the exercise of the call option is expected to be around £609m. The transaction is subject to the approval of Enterprise Inn’s shareholders.

Cinven led the group of investors, which acquired the combined estates of the Unique and Voyager Pub estates from Nomura International in March 2002. The total enterprise value of the acquisition was £2,013m. Enterprise Inns, part of the investor group, acquired a 16.8% stake.

Since the acquisition the operations of the two estates have been merged and the new entity was the subject of a successful securitisation programme, which raised £855m. Following this securitisation capital was returned to the Cinven consortium and the terms of the call option altered to reflect this return of capital.

Cinven director Dick Munton, said: “This has been a highly successful investment for Cinven which will result in a return of over two times our invested capital. 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.”