Antic Limited pubs bought out of administration by newly-formed company

Announcing the sale, Richard Toone, David Oprey and Kevin Murphy from accountancy firm Chantrey Vellacott said the pubs had been bought by a company headed up by Max Alderman and funded by London-based financial group Downing.

Gregarious Limited, which was founded on 15 February, is led by Alderman who, according to the Companies House website, served as the secretary of Antic Limited until January 2012.

Alderman is also the operations director for 24 other pubs which are operated under the name Antic London and were unaffected by the Antic Limited administration.

Significant interest

Last month, Toone confirmed he had been appointed as a joint administrator of Antic Limited on 14 January  and revealed unresolved issues surrounding an HMRC bill had led to the administration. Today, Toone revealed the newly-formed company had acquired 12 of the 14 assets and leaseholds held by Antic Limited.

"A lot of hard work has been done to get this sale over the line, and we’re delighted to complete a sale of 12 sites which includes the transfer of over 200 jobs,” he said.

The sale does not include two sites which had not been trading at the time of the administration - The Acton Arms which was closed last month when the tenancy was terminated due to poor performance and another unit in Brixton which has never traded.

“The pubs are very popular and since our appointment we received in excess of 20 formal offers. We’re pleased to have finalised a deal with the director of Gregarious Limited and are confident the new owners are well placed to stabilise the leases at each of the pubs and make them a success again,” Toone added.

Antic Limited

The 12 sites acquired out of administration include the Balham Bowls Club, the Battersea Mess & Music Hall and the Jam Circus, Brockley. All 12 sites traded as normal during the administration period.

A spokesperson for Antic London declined to comment on today's development.