Wolverhampton drinks to magic deal

PITCHER & Piano owner Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries has agreed to buy Wizard Inns for £89.9m. Wizard, owned by Japanese bank Nomura, has an estate of 63 community pubs and unbranded bars mainly in the south of England.

In the year to the end of December operating profit was £5.9m from turnover of £43.8m and the company had a net asset value of £63.6m. The takeover includes Wizard's debts.

Wolverhampton has 1,630 pubs - 1,035 tenancies within The Union Pub Company and 472 directly managed by Pathfinder Pubs, which includes the Pitcher & Piano chain, Bostin' Locals and Service That Suits Me outlets.

It expects the Wizard takeover to offer up savings of £2.5m in the year to September 2005.

'Wizard has a good track record, in part because of its strong service culture, the essence of which we will seek to retain and develop across comparable Pathfinder Pubs,' said Ralph Findlay, chief executive.

Last month, Wolverhampton revealed underlying pre-tax profits were up 5.3% to £31.7m in the six months to 27 March.

The strong results were in contrast to rivals Regent Inns and Eldridge Pope, who issued profits warnings earlier this year after their managed estates performed poorly.

Wolverhampton's shares rose 1/2p to 815 1/2p in early trading.