Fri 13th Aug 2021 - RedCat apologises for Gusto Pronto deal error RedCat apologises for Gusto Pronto deal error: RedCat Pub Company, the vehicle founded and chaired by Rooney Anand to invest in the UK pub sector, has apologised for a story Propel published earlier today, saying the business had acquired Gusto Pronto, the five-strong, Suffolk-based pub group. Propel published the story in good faith after confirmation of the acquisition from RedCat and its PR firm. However, it has since been brought to our attention that a deal between the two companies has not taken place. RedCat has apologised for any misunderstanding caused and is understood to be talking to the owners of Gusto Pronto over the mistake. Propel insights editor Mark Wingett said: “In over 20 years of journalism I have never come across a situation, where a company claims to have bought another company, but hasn’t. It is somewhat unprecedented and somewhat extraordinary. We would never publish a story like this, unless it was confirmed, which it was. We had been talking to RedCat and its PR team – Brunswick – about RedCat’s involvement in a number of prospective deals over the past few months, and flagged up its interest in Gusto Pronto as part of this. Subsequently yesterday, we received confirmation from Brunswick that RedCat had done a deal to acquire Gusto Pronto. In good faith, we then published said story, only to be told by the owners of Gusto Pronto that in fact this wasn’t the case. It is understood that Gusto Pronto had an approach from RedCat to acquire the business, which has been rejected. They have asked for a retraction of the story, which we are happy to provide.”