Stonegate - comment

Whitbread are reportedly auctioning off 250 pub/restaurants via a process by Goldman Sachs. Whitbread owns 440 pub restaurants, with several of them marginal or loss-making.  Any sale is likely to be to an established player, with Mitchells & Butlers tipped as the frontrunner. This does not bode well for Stonegate, who are also trying to sell 700-800 pubs to deleverage. These rumours are from last February with the Times reporting last week that TDR Capital, the sponsor, has appointed Eastdil Secured to advise. 

Separately, Moody’s downgraded Stonegate's outlook to negative from stable, due to gradually approaching maturities in July 2025 coupled with higher UK base rates.