The Laurel Pub Company Limited | Introduction
Introduction
Porter Tun House
500 Capability Green
Luton
Bedfordshire LU1 3LS
United Kingdom
Telephone: (+44) 07002-528735
Fax:
Web site: http://www.laurelpubco.com
Private Company
Incorporated: 2001
Employees: 11,000
Sales: £350 million ($560 million) (2002)
NAIC: 722410 Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages);424820 Wine and Distilled Alcoholic BeverageMerchant Wholesalers; 531190 Lessors of Other RealEstate Property
The Laurel Pub Company Limited is one of the United Kingdom's top five operators of managed—as opposed to tenanted—pubs, with more than 650 pubs throughout the country under its control. Created in 2001 from the sale of former brewer Whitbread Plc's pub estate to German investment bank Morgan Grenfell Private Equity (which remains Laurel's owner), Laurel Pub is seeking a place among the survivors of the rapidly consolidating U.K. pub market. Yet the company's hopes for a place in the top three were dashed when it was dropped from the bidding for the more than 1,500-pub estate of Scottish & Newcastle Plc in October 2003. The failure to gain scale may make Laurel itself a vulnerable takeover target, if parent Morgan Grenfell seeks an early return on its investment. In the meantime, Laurel has been streamlining and redeveloping its own estate. In December 2002, the company sold nearly half of its pub estate in a sale-leaseback arrangement with London & Regional Properties, which freed up nearly £300 million for Laurel's investment and expansion effort. Laurel's pubs operate under five primary brands and formats: Hog's Head, Wayside, Champion, Town Traditional, and Tavern Venue. The company, led by former Bass executive Ian Payne, plans a public offering by 2005—if it avoids being swallowed by a larger rival.