While drinkers have returned to pubs since the pandemic, soaring interest rates heaped pressure on companies with high debt levels. Stonegate’s finance costs hit £301m last year, pushing the business to a pre-tax loss of £257m despite an operating profit of £68m.
The pub company was criticised last year for charging drinkers 20p more per pint during peak trading times, such as during sports events, as part of so-called dynamic pricing introduced at some 800 sites.
The refinancing comes weeks after TDR Capital seized control of Asda as part of a £500m deal. TDR owns 67.5pc of Asda after the billionaire Issa brothers carved up their business empire, as Zuber Issa offloaded his 22.5pc stake and Mohsin Issa retained his 22.5pc stake. The remaining 10pc is owned by Walmart, which owned Asda before it was bought by the Issa brothers for £6.8bn in 2021.
TDR said the refinancing and resulting lower debt burden meant Stonegate would be able to invest around £300m more into the company over the next three years. It added profits across the group were up 7.7pc in the first half of the current financial year compared with a year ago.
David McDowall, the chief executive of Stonegate, said: “We have always said we would achieve the right outcome on our refinancing requirements, and I am delighted we can now move forward with confidence and certainty, having achieved our balance sheet goals.”