Greene King positions itself for Olympics with Realpubs takeover

Greene King moved to ready itself for the Olympics today, snapping up London pub company Realpubs for £53 million.

That gives it 14 more pubs in London, taking its total within the M25 to 217.

Chief executive Rooney Anand said: "That positions us strongly ahead of, during and after the Olympics in 2012 when London and its pubs and restaurants will be visited by tourists from across the world."

Realpubs is a 50/50 joint venture between private equity house Broctkon Capital and pub entrepreneurs Nick Pring and Malcolm Heap.

Once borrowings are paid down, it seems that the founders will share around £26 million, though Greene King wasn't forthcoming about exactly where the money is going.

Greene King, which makes Old Speckled Hen and Abbot Ale among other beers, is doing well. Sales in the 51 weeks to April 24 are up 4.7%. At Hungry Horse, sales are rising even more sharply, up 10.1%.

Heap and Pring have agreed to stay with the Realpubs business for at least the next two years.
Greene King shares gained 16p to 488.6p. That leaves the stockmarket value of the company at just above £1 billion.