Slug & Lettuce owner Stonegate gearing up for £1bn float

Stonegate, the pub company that owns Slug & Lettuce and Yates's, is considering floating on the London stock market next year. 

 

The business, which owns more than 600 pubs and bars in the UK, has begun speaking to investment bankers about going public at some point in 2016. 

 

The group – the UK's fourth largest of its kind – is likely to be valued at just under £1bn, including around £300m of debt, Sky News reports. 

 

Stonegate is currently owned by private equity firm TDR, and was formed following the acquisition of 333 pubs from Mitchell & Butlers in 2010. Since then it has nearly doubled in size through a series of acquisitions.

 

TDR, which owns a wide range of businesses including the gym chain David Lloyd's, is expected to appoint bankers to work on the listing shortly.

 

TDR declined to comment.