Punch 'may call time on 6,000 pubs' in shake-up

Ian Dyson, the new chief executive of Punch Taverns, may hand the tenanted estate – pubs owned by Punch but leased to independent landlords – to the group's bondholders, according to a Sunday newspaper.

Mr Dyson wants to focus on the remaining 800 pubs directly managed by Punch, which includes the Chef & Brewer chain.

It was reported that most of the debt is secured against the tenanted estate.

The group, which also manages the Fayre & Square pub chain, is understood to have appointed bank Goldman Sachs and asset management firm Blackstone to prepare for a restructuring.

The restructuring proposal is among options being considered by Mr Dyson.

Others include a debt-for-equity swap or more pub disposals.

Punch's borrowings have been slowly reduced by pub sell-offs, but shares have plunged from 1365p three years ago to 59p on Friday.

The company offloaded 893 pubs in the financial year to August, in which it reported underlying profits of 131m for the period, down from 160m a year earlier.

In the managed estate, like-for-like sales were up 2.6 per cent in the final quarter.

Mr Dyson started a review of strategy and operating performance when he joined the company in September from Marks & Spencer, in order to explore options for creating shareholder value.

The group parted company with finance director, Phil Dutton, two weeks ago as Mr Dyson formed a new team ahead of talks with lenders.

The pub trade has been battered by a smoking ban, duty increases and the recession.

In response, Mr Dyson said last month that he wants to increase food sales, reduce debt and prune Punch's ailing tenanted estate to a core of 4,700 pubs over the next two to four years.

If yesterday's report is correct, he is now planning a considerable increase in the scale of that plan.

Managed operators such as JD Wetherspoon and Mitchells & Butlers, which directly run their pubs, have fared better through the recession as they have more freedom to cut prices, partly because of their purchasing

power as larger centralised operators.