Bargain Booze and Wine Rack owner Conviviality Retail has revealed it is in talks to acquire drinks supplier Matthew Clark Holdings.
- Conviviality in talks to acquire Matthew Clark Holdings
- Matthew Clark made £25m profit on sales of £800m last year
- Conviviality suspends shares as takeover talks continue
Conviviality, which is listed on the AIM, said it was “participating in a managed sale process” and suspended shares from trading this morning following the news.
Matthew Clark, which is half-owned by pub operator Punch Taverns, made a £25m profit last year on sales of £800m and is the biggest supplier to UK pubs. Reports earlier this year suggested that embattled Punch was seeking to offload the distributor in a potential £200m sale.
Punch, which is the UK’s second largest pub group, co-owns Matthew Clark on a 50-50 basis alongside Australian private equity firm CHAMP.
Conviviality said that, if the deal goes through, it would constitute “a reverse takeover” under AIM rules, since Matthew Clark is a bigger business.
Conviviality did not disclose the size of the acquisition or specify a time-frame on the deal, but said shares would remain suspended until discussions end or the deal goes ahead.
The off-licence group will provide its full-year trading update on Monday. In May, it said it expects revenues to rise 2% to £364m for the year ending April 26.
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