NewRiver is considering a potential initial public offering (IPO) of Hawthorn, its pub property business.
In a statement on Thursday, NewRiver said that it plans to divest the portfolio of over 700 pubs across the UK in order to ‘reset its LTV and provide the firepower to reshape its portfolio’.
NewRiver’s board has agreed that Mark Davies will lead the IPO. Davies has been instrumental in driving and growing NewRiver's community pub company since 2013 and has been CEO of Hawthorn since 2019. He also sits on the Board of the British Beer and Pub Association and has been CFO of NewRiver for 12 years since IPO in 2009.
After several months of temporary closure, Hawthorn opened over 60% of its pubs in England on 12 April 2021, following the easing of restrictions on outside trading.
