CMA mulls probe into £222m Hawthorn Leisure takeover

The Competition and Markets Authority is mulling a potential probe into Admiral Taverns’ £222m takeover of Hawthorn Leisure.

Hawthorn’s owner, the real estate investment trust NewRiver, announced in July it was selling the business, which has 674 leased and tenanted pubs, to Admiral, a wet-led operator with around 1,000 pubs in England, Wales and Scotland.

The £222.3m cash deal is expected to cement Admiral’s position as one of the UK’s biggest community-pub operators.

But on Tuesday the competition watchdog announced it was considering whether or not the deal has resulted in, or may be expected to result in, a “substantial lessening of competition within any market or markets in the UK for goods and services”.

Interested parties are invited to comment on the deal by 12 October.

Since a management buyout in 2017, backed by Proprium Capital Partners and C&C Group, Chester-backed Admiral went on to acquire 150 pubs from Star Pubs & Bars and 137 from Marston’s in 2019, and is now one of the UK’s largest pub groups.

Announcing the sale, NewRiver chief executive, Allan Lockhart, said at the time: “Over recent years we have growth Hawthorn to become the UK’s leading community and wet-led pub business.”

A spokesperson for Admiral Taverns told The Independent: “This is standard practice and expected from the CMA. We look forward to hearing the outcome in due course.”