Hartlepool group Pubmaster continued its spending spree yesterday after agreeing to buy smaller rival the Heritage Pub Company for £18.9m.
The deal will add a further 55 pubs to the Pubmaster portfolio and take its total estate to approximately 3,200 pubs across the UK.
It will also boost its presence in the East Midlands, given Heritage's focus on the Nottingham, Derby, Loughborough and Lincoln areas.
Pubmaster, the UK's fourth biggest pubs group, said it would continue to run the sites as tenanted operations.
John Sands, executive chairman, said: "The Heritage estate is of a very high quality and it has significant opportunities to generate attractive returns.''
Pubmaster bought rival Inn Partnership in a £523m deal in February, adding 1,200 pubs across the North-West, South-West and the Midlands.
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