Barworks acquires the Commercial Tavern for more than £4.6m, plans to acquire many more freeholds: Barworks has bought the freehold of Shoreditch’s Commercial Tavern for in excess of £4.6m. Agent Fleurets was initially instructed to market a new lease in the property, which generated “huge levels of interest and extremely competitive rental bids”. Freehold bids were also forthcoming due to the iconic nature of the property and a freehold sale was agreed with Barworks with sale completion at the end of March. The property has been acquired for in excess of £4.6m by Barworks. The new owner intends to build on the Commercial’s “quirky identity and opulence”. Marc Francis-Baum, managing director of Barworks, said: “The Commercial is a pub we have long admired and it will fit perfectly into our group. We were initially doing a deal on a leasehold basis, but the sale of The Camden Town Brewery (in which it had invested) went through, thus enabling us to buy the freehold. Selling our stake in Camden is a game changer for us as we are now in a position to expand Barworks rapidly and also purchase many more freeholds. It also helps us ramp up the expansion of The Diner, hopefully doubling its size (currently nine sites) in the next two years. We currently have three in legals already and will be opening our first outside London soon. Our gin, vodka, and whiskey distillery The East London Liquor Company is expanding fast and we have been able to further support this expansion. We had a great journey with (founder) Jasper (Cuppaidge) and Camden, it really has been a fairytale ending for us after just five years. We wish Jasper and Camden every success in the future. We would like to thank Michael and Maria who sold The Commercial Tavern to us – it’s been their home for over 12 years and wish them well in the future. We would also like to thank Elysia at Fleurets for putting the deal together and making sure it all ran very smoothly.”