Thu 17th Jan 2013 - Breaking News - Antic subsidiary in administration Antic subsidiary placed in administration: A subsidiary company of highly regarded London pub operator Antic, Antic Limited, which runs a small number of leasehold sites, has been placed in administration with Chantrey Vellacott. The sites are still open and trading pending a possible sale. The administration does not affect around 24 pubs still operated by Antic, which are now listed on a new website Antic London. Antic, which is headed by Anthony Thomas, co-owns 11 freehold pubs with investment fund Downing and has four other freehold acquisitions in the pipeline – the 11 sites are run through a variety of independent vehicles. The company also runs a number of leasehold pubs in London through other vehicles. An industry source said: “The Antic brand continues very successfully - it’s just that a number of leasehold sites within Antic Limited have been placed in administration.” Antic has been credited with helping to revitalise several unfashionable south and east London high streets with its quirky and characterful pubs. Its Leytonstone High Road pub, for example, has won several awards including CAMRA’s East London Pub of the Year. Antic has recently submitted plans to convert part of the former Leyton Town Hall site into a pub. The company used several front rooms of the building, in the High Road, as a temporary ‘pop-up’ bar during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. One of the four pub freeholds Antic is currently acquiring is The Prince in Colliers Wood, which it plans to rename as Provenance. “Antic bought the property off a guide price of £1 million,” Michael Penfold of licensed leisure specialists AG&G, which marketed The Prince, said at the end of 2012. Joint administrators at Chantrey Vellacott are Richard Toon, Kevin Murphy and David Oprey. In its most recent accounts, filed in October last year, Antic Limited had net current liabilities of £929,000 as at 31 December 2011, including short term bank loans and overdrafts of £125,000. The short term bank loans and overdrafts were repaid in February 2012 following the sale of a leasehold interest. The company stated: “However, net debt facilities have yet to be secured by the company to fund its working capital requirements.” The company identified the need to find new investors and raise fresh equity “within the next 12 months” to deliver its business plan. The company added: “However, due to the need to successfully identify investors and complete a placing, including obtaining shareholder consent in general, there is a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt about the ability to continue as a going concern.”