Punch sells 205 pubs to Petchey

January 3, 2006: Punch Taverns is selling 205 leased and tenanted pubs to Save Investments Limited, a member of the Petchey Group of companies, for a total cash consideration of £98m.

The sale is expected to completed early this month.

The sale follows the proposed acquisition of Spirit Group (announced by Punch on December 1, 2005, and scheduled to complete on Thursday) and a review of the enlarged Punch estate to identify specific areas of local concentration.

Giles Thorley, chief executive of Punch, said: “This disposal further confirms Punch's ability to profitably divest of pubs from its enlarged estate, either on economic or geographic criteria, at attractive prices thereby further enhancing the returns to our shareholders.”