Fortress Investment Group, which owns Majestic Wine, has agreed to buy Punch Pubs & Co for an estimated $1.3 billion.
Punch Pubs & Co is a pub and bar operator in the United Kingdom, with around 1,300 leased pubs. Most of Punch sites are run by self-employed tenants on either freehold or long leasehold agreements. The company was established by former PizzaExpress head Hugh Osmond and Café Rouge founder Roger Myers in 1997 when they bought the Bass Brewery portfolio of public houses.
Analysts believe that Fortress will seek to expand the Punch portfolio, which was highly impacted during the on-premise decline due to COVID-19.
More details here.