Stonegate pub portfolio sells for £23m: A package of 13 freehold pubs operated by Stonegate Pub Company has been sold off-market by Aprirose Real Estate Investors, through Coffer Corporate Leisure, in an off-market deal, for £23m. The purchaser was BlackRock. The properties provide long, unbroken leases with 22-and-a-half years unexpired terms and a total passing rent of circa £1.35m per annum, reflecting a net initial yield of 5.5%. The 13 managed pubs in the portfolio are Slug and Lettuce, Southend on Sea; The Surrey Arms, Camberley; The Station, Eastleigh; Slug and Lettuce, Derby; Yates’s, Leicester; Prince of Wales, Chatham; Prince of Wales, Chorley; The Burlington, Chesterfield; The Merchant, Glasgow; The Mailbox, Lincoln; The Crafty Scholar, Lancaster; Yates’s, Blackpool; and The Castle, Blackpool. Mark Sheehan, managing director, Coffer Corporate Leisure, said: “Stonegate is a well-regarded operator with a very strong estate. The properties are long established and highly profitable, let on long leases and benefitting from index-linked growth. This was an off-market transaction that worked well for both parties, resulting from a discreet one-to-one conversation. The public house market in particular is in huge demand with appetite significantly outstripping supply. Institutional investors are attracted by the long leases, index-linked uplifts, strong underlying property value and liquidity of pub assets. Lack of stock remains our biggest issue. The pub market is attracting great demand, demonstrating secure, income producing assets with strong underlying real estate value. What is unique to the pub sector is the level of continuity of trading not seen in other asset classes. Now is a fantastic time for investors and operators alike to consider capitalising on the excess demand in the market.” Geoffrey Shaw, portfolio manager at BlackRock, said: “Pubs provide a great diversifier for our clients as the demand drivers have a low correlation to other sectors such as hotels, offices or car parks. The assets are run by a very experienced management team and the individual lot sizes make the properties very liquid. We believe in collaboration with our investment partners and this was another example where all parties involved collaborated seamlessly to complete this transaction.” Coffer Corporate Leisure advised Aprirose Real Estate Investors. BlackRock was advised by Fleurets.