Slug & Lettuce chain owner Stonegate Group, the country’s biggest pub operator, is weighing the sale of roughly 1,000 venues in an effort to chip away at a debt pile that has cast a long shadow over the business.
The package, thought to be worth around £1 billion, would come from the company’s so-called platinum estate, a collection of 1,034 higher-end pubs that could be carved out cleanly without disrupting day-to-day operations.
Stonegate amassed close to £3 billion of borrowings after its 2019 merger with Ei Group, a deal struck just months before Covid-19 shuttered the hospitality sector and forced operators to shoulder new costs while takings vanished.
Although trading has recovered, the group is still wrestling with the financial legacy of the pandemic and the wider pressures facing pubs, from labour shortages to rising energy bills.
The timing of the potential sale is not accidental. In January, a non-call period expires on a £638 million loan held by Apollo, the private equity firm that securitised the platinum portfolio several years ago.
Once that window closes, Stonegate will have more flexibility to refinance or restructure the debt, and a substantial asset sale would strengthen its hand.
The company, whose brands include Slug & Lettuce and Be At One, reported a £214 million loss in 2024, underscoring the strain on Britain’s pub groups even as customer numbers slowly rebuild.
Offloading a chunk of its estate may help shore up the balance sheet, though it would represent one of the largest pub disposals in the sector for years.
Investors and lenders will now be watching closely to see whether Stonegate pushes ahead, and at what price a buyer or multiple buyers is prepared to take on such a large slice of the UK’s drinking circuit.