Robert Cain and Co is expected to float on AIM by means of a reverse takeover, it has been reported.
The Liverpool-based brewer is thought to be in pursuit of pub operator Honeycombe Leisure, which had its shares cancelled by AIM last week.
Robert Cain will now be subsumed by Honeycombe with the overall stock and debt of the new company believed to be valued at around £37m, according to the Sunday Times.
It is also reported that Robert Cain’s owners will inject about £2.5m into the business in the form of loan stock, while Honeycombe will raise a similar sum through a share placing, giving the company about £5m of new funds for investment. The market capitalisation of the enlarged group will be about £7.5m.
Robert Cain itself was rescued from bankruptcy five years ago by its current owners, Sudarghara and Ajmail Dusanj, who have brought developed the brewer into a £24m business with profits of around £400,000.
The two brothers now appear intent on taking the company further on to the national stage. The acquisition of Honeycombe will add over 100 pubs in the northwest to the company’s holding, massively boosting its number of premises from nine.
Robert Cain, an Irishman, founded the business in Liverpool in 1850 and became one of the country’s largest brewers creating over 200 pubs before his death in 1907.
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2007