Greene King has announced it has pulled out the sale process for Orchid Group, with the latest round of bids for the 225-strong Rufus Hall-led company thought to be due in today.
The Rooney Anand-led company confirmed that it was involved in the sale process for Orchid, but it has now chosen to withdraw.
Anand, Greene King chief executive, said: “We have decided to withdraw from the Orchid sale process as the transaction does not meet our strict acquisition criteria. Our successful retail expansion programme is, and remains, focused on improving shareholder value and delivering sustainable, long-term growth.”
It is thought that Greene King’s withdrawal leaves Mitchells & Butlers (M&B), Colony Capital and Starwood Capital vying to acquire all or whole of the Orchid business.
Earlier this week, M&B, which is bidding for 158 of Orchids best performing sites and Colony were believed to have moved ahead of Starwood and Spirit, who had also shown an interest in part of the business, in the process.
are understood to have both bid for c158 of the 225-strong Orchid estate, according to The Times leisure correspondent Dominic Walsh.
Spirit is thought to have gone for a much smaller number of food-led pubs than either M&B or Greene King, while Duke Street Capital is thought to have bid for about 60 sites.
Orchid was placed on the market last year with a price tag of c£250m.
Backer Deutsche Bank and Orchid’s management team would prefer an outright sale placing the private equity group’s in pole position for the business, which is being advised on its options by Sapient Finance.
Deutsche Bank took control of Orchid in 2012 after a financial restructuring of the group, which was formed in 2006 as a breakaway from Punch Taverns and initially backed by US investment fund GI Partners.
The company, which is believed to be generating ROI of 40% on its capex programme, is thought to have also considered exploring an IPO after holding meetings with a number of investment banks earlier this year.
