 Camra's investment club has about �12m invested in real ale brewers |
An historic Liverpool brewery's deal to take over a Lancashire-based pub operator has won financial backing from its prospective customers. The Campaign for Real Ale's (Camra) investment club has taken a share worth �240,000 in Honeycombe, based in Preston, ahead of a takeover by Cains.
Cains will combine its award-winning beers with about 100 pubs in the North West after the takeover on 7 June.
Camra said it wanted to support the "exciting development".
The group's investment club has about �12m invested in real ale brewers, including �1m-plus stakes in Adams, Greene King and Marston's.
Camra said this was the first time the club had bought as big a stake in a regional business so quickly.
'Long-term' investment
Spokesman Dave Goodwin said: "Cains is creating the first integrated pub and brewing business to list in over 10 years.
"We see it as a long-term investment and support for a business which is producing quality beers and getting into more outlets as a result of the deal."
Cains' brewery is known in Liverpool as the Terracotta Palace and has been a landmark in the city since 1887.
The company was losing money and was on the brink of closure when it was bought by Indian entrepreneurs Sudarghara and Ajmail Dusanj in 2002.
Since then, its fortunes have recovered and Cains has been chosen as the official beer of Liverpool's reign as Capital of Culture in 2008.
The deal, which was announced last week, will create a new business with 109 outlets across the north west and an annual turnover of more than �65m.
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