Wolverhampton & Dudley refinances debts of 805m

Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries (W&D) is refinancing up to £805m of existing debt to simplify its balance sheet and free up cash for future purchases.

Acquisition-hungry W&D, which bought Jennings for £46m in April, said the move to securitise its debt against its pub estate would also make the cost of future borrowing cheaper.

Finance director Paul Inglett said: "This proposed refinancing of our existing debt will reduce interest costs and is consistent with our strategy of retaining the high-quality freehold asset base of the business, while providing greater flexibility for further development."

Group debt of between £530m and £805m will be securitised against as much as 70% of the existing 2,000-plus estate.

The move follows rival Greene King's announcement in February that it would issue 600m of bonds to partly finance the £1.05b loan it took out to buy 432 pubs from Laurel Pub Company in July 2004.