Mitchells & Butlers, the pub and restaurant group, is in talks to sell 100 pubs to Trevor Hemmings, the leisure entrepreneur, for approximately £107m, according to The Times.
The predominantly wet-led pubs were placed on the market in July, after M&B announced it had completed its £497m acquisition of 239 pub-restaurants from Whitbread.
The sites, which are unbranded and primarily community pubs, produce underlying profits (ebitda) of about £10m at outlet level.
About half the pubs are managed and about half operate through M&B's franchise division.
It is understood Citigroup was given the mandate to sell the package. The £107m price is below original estimates of up to £125m.
Hemmings owns the Blackpool Tower and also has significant stakes in Trust Inns, the tenanted pub group, and Scottish & Newcastle, the quoted brewer.
Hemmings is currently selling off part of his Herald Inns & Bars business, which he jointly owns with Halifax Bank of Scotland.
The package, which is thought to comprise 15 sites trading under the Brannigans and Mood late-night brands, generates annual revenues of about £20m.
