10 April 2024 , 13:44
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Stonegate Pub Company, which has a network of more than 4,400 UK pubs and bars including Slug & Lettuce, has said there is a risk that its debt cannot be refinanced by its July 2025 deadline
The UK’s biggest pub company Stonegate has raised concerns about its survival as it battles debts of £2.3billion.
Stonegate Pub Company - which has a network of more than 4,400 UK pubs and bars including the Slug & Lettuce, Be At One and Sports Bar & Grill chains - has said there is a risk that its debt cannot be refinanced by its July 2025 deadline. As a result, Stonegate’s company house accounts say there is “material uncertainty that casts doubt on the company’s ability to continue as a “going concern”.
In its annual report, the company said there was a plan for refinancing the debt, but as no money has yet to be raised there is doubt on its ability to remain afloatThe report said: "Since the refinancing plans haven’t been executed, there is an indication that a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the company and group’s ability to continue as a going concern."
This means the group “may be unable to realise their assets and discharge their liabilities in the normal course of business”. Stonegate became the UK’s largest pub group after the purchase of Ei Group - formerly Enterprise Inns - back in 2019 for £1.3billion. The deal included a debt of £1.7billion. The company has been trying to refinance its debts since at least February with Bloomberg reporting that the company had appointed bankers at Evercore and lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis to explore its options.
The Stonegate Pub Company is owned by Caymans-registered parent company TDR Capital which also owns the ASDA supermarket chain. The group is also in partnership with a number of other pub brands including Frontier Pubs, Six Cheers and Old Spot.
The GMB union had flagged debt concerns at the group back in January warning that a collapse of the hospitality giant could impact 19,000 workers. At the time, Justin Bowden, GMB’s southern regional secretary, criticised Stonegate’s private equity ownership structure, saying: "The problems we are experiencing with private equity-owned Asda at Gosport are not confined to just that store. We have experienced similar problems across the stores in the south of England. These problems are exacerbated by the fact that GMB, as the union for Asda staff, has never met the hands-on private equity owners since they took over the business."
GMB also accused TDR’s “opaque” business structure of lacking financial transparency adding: “The position with the Stonegate Pub Company’s finances is equally lacking in transparency, with the ultimate holding company based in the Cayman Islands. GMB’s experience with private equity owners has been, and continues to be, wholly negative. We fear for the future of our local supermarkets and pubs in the hands of their private equity owners.”