A&O and Slaughters toast £497m Whitbread pubs sale

Allen & Overy and Slaughter and May celebrated the sale of 239 Whitbread pubs to Mitchells & Butler with a glass of champagne in the early hours of the morning.

M&B has paid £497m for the pubs in a effort to as it looks to repositioning itself for the eating-out market ahead of the smoking ban next year. The deal was closed at 3am this morning (July 21).

Slaughters, led by partner David Johnson, advised long-standing client Whitbread on the sale. Johnson worked closely with in house lawyer Russell Fairhurst.

Johnson recently advised Whitbread on the IPO of Britvic and its subsequent £1bn exit from its franchised Marriott hotels business, which it sold to RBS.

A&O partner Susan Howard led the team that represented Mitchells & Butler.