Wadworth spends nearly £6.5m acquiring three sites for managed estate: Brewer and retailer Wadworth has spent nearly £6.5m acquiring three sites for its managed estate. The company reopened The Dolphin in Botley, Hampshire, in April after a major refurbishment having bought the High Street site for £1.25m. Wadworth has also breathed new life into the 14th century The Bird in the Hand in Reading, which it acquired for £2.25m, and 16th century The Stag Hotel in Redhill, Surrey, which it bought for £1.25m. Wadworth chief executive Chris Welham said: “These major acquisitions are testament to our ambitious growth strategy and continued commitment to expansion in 2017 and beyond. We have invested significant capex into extensive improvements at these properties as well as releasing an additional spend of about £2.5m over the past six months to upgrade, refurbish and extend a number of pubs throughout our estate of managed and tenanted houses.” The recent capex release has also focused on the enhancement and expansion of the accommodation offering bringing the number of Wadworth rooms available for short stays to 240. The company aims to add more properties to the estate during the next three to five years and said it would make further investment into existing pubs on an ongoing basis. These new acquisitions and capex investments come hot on the heels of Wadworth’s first acquisition in London last year, The Kings Arms in Fulham, which it said was over-achieving on expectations. Welham added: “It’s an exciting time to be part of Wadworth with a commercially focused and driven management team dedicated to moving the business forward with sustained growth and investment. Six months ago, we reinvigorated our 6X brand and have already seen the results in increased sales. We expect that trend to continue and for our acquisition and improvements programme to start paying similar dividends, attracting new customers and cementing and increasing loyalty with existing ones.”

Fleurets sells four-strong freehold investment portfolio for £9.47m: Acting on behalf of real estate investment company Aprirose, agent Fleurets has sold a pub portfolio to Kames Capital for a total consideration of £9,475,000, reflecting an initial yield of 4.8%. The deal includes four pubs – The Refectory in Godalming, The Rye House in Hoddersdon, The Black Prince in West Byfleet and The Ship in Wilmslow – one let to Punch and the remainder to the Spirit Group. Fleurets divisional director Ed Sandall said: “We were delighted to act on behalf of Aprirose. The transaction reflects the balance of the portfolio we purchased on its behalf from Cerberus in December 2014. This transaction again highlights investor appetite for the leisure sector predicated on the long lease length, fixed rental growth and strong tenants.” Aprirose chief executive Manish Gudka added: “This transaction marks the successful execution of our business plan, which involved an opportunistic approach by Fleurets to secure the assets we held until the market improved and have sold off in a number of tranches enjoying excellent income and capital growth for our investors.”