Greene King buys Realpubs for £53m

Greene King has acquired 14 London pubs for £53.1m, it said yesterday, adding that the recent good weather had helped it deliver barnstorming sales since last year's snow melted.

The pub operator and brewer of Old Speckled Hen said its acquisition of Realpubs was the latest in a series of value-creating purchases, which, along with its strong underlying growth, would help it expand its retail business to about 1,100 outlets.

Rooney Anand, Greene King's chief executive, said: "The addition of Realpubs takes the total number of Greene King sites within the M25 to 217 and positions us strongly ahead of, during and after the Olympics in London in 2012, when London and its pubs and restaurants will be visited by tourists from across the world."

For the 51 weeks to 24 April, Greene King grew retail like-for-like sales by 4.7 per cent – including an 8.2 per cent gain since the last week "impacted by the snow" at the end of last year. Its Pub Partners division grew profits by 0.8 per cent over the longer period.