Greene King has cleared the way to complete its £774 million takeover of rival pub empire Spirit by saying it was no longer conditional on approval by the Competition and Markets Authority.
In effect, this indicates that the brewer, led by chief executive Rooney Anand, is comfortable it has reached agreement with the watchdog that its proposal to sell off 16 pubs from the combined estates will satisfy anti-competition concerns.
Nine of those pubs are currently owned by Greene King and seven by Spirit. With the combined group owning more than 3100 pubs in total that is a relatively small concession.
The decision means that the recommended takeover, which was launched back in November last year, can now be completed by the end of this month.
It will require court approval next Friday and, assuming that is given, trading in Spirit shares will cease on Tuesday, June 23.
Greene King originally said it hoped to complete the deal in the first half of this year and will just hit that target.
The takeover will expand Greene King’s pub coverage across London and the South-East.
