CBRE has said pub operators will be forced to look more widely for opportunities to grow in 2016.
In its Pubs Marketview Q4 2015 CBRE asks where M&A activity will come from next year.
It says: “The scarcity of stock in the market and the consequential lack of activity means it is difficult to call an improvement in values. Operators will be looking more widely to find opportunities for growth.
“The JD Wetherspoon units, which we have been marketing, have attracted interest from a broad range of corporate buyers. The recent opportunity to invest in Cubbitt House Group attracted wide interest despite the units being held leasehold.
“As freeholds in London so rarely come on the market, the likes of Fullers and Young’s are seeking leasehold opportunities. The new Young’s unit at Spitalfields is a great example of this. Marston’s continues to successfully develop its new-build pub restaurants. Single unit acquisitions take up significant time and resource though and a larger corporate transaction is preferable.”
The report predicts that pubs code will dominate the tenanted market next year.
