Brothers Toast Future of Pubs Group After Business Deal

Midland-based brothers Sudarghara and Ajmail Dusanj, who own Liverpool’s Cains brewery, have agreed a reverse takeover of pub operator Honeycombe Leisure to create a new business with 109 outlets and an annual turnover of pounds 65.5 million.

The new group – formed from Preston-based Honeycombe and the Cains Brewery – will be renamed Cains Beer Company to capitalise on the strength of the Cains brand.

It will be listed on the Alternative Investment Market and 57.65 per cent owned by the brothers, who acquired Cains Brewery in 2002.

The company headquarters will be at the Cains’ brewery in Liverpool.

The deal brings together Honeycombe Leisure’s estate of 100 pubs, which includes outlets in Staffordshire and Shropshire, with the nine already operated by Cains.

The brothers have come a long way since helping in their father’s fish and chip shop in Kent in 1987.

They expanded the family business by purchasing run down or closed shops and converting them into fish and chip shops or convenience stores, helping the family business to grow to nine shops

The pair sold the family business and moved to the Midlands with the purchase of Stour-bridge soft drinks manufacturer Gardner Shaw, which was in receivership, in 1992.

Gardner Shaw was successfully turned around within three years by introducing new product lines, servicing the wholesale pub trade and opening a number of depots across the Midlands, increasing turnover from pounds 450,000 to pounds 8 million.

In 2002 they rescued Robert Cain Brewery, which was losing pounds 2 million a year and on the brink of closure. They turned it around within three years by concentrating on quality, service, innovation and the Cains brand.

Sudarghara, aged 41, and Ajmail, aged 40, have respectively become chief executive and chief operating officer of the new business.

They said the deal represented a major opportunity to further develop the Cains business.

Sudarghara Dusanj said: “The new business will have a significant brewing, distribution and branded beer portfolio to add to the existing company’s pub chain.

“This is a fully integrated business model which has been adopted by many highly successful companies and offers a direct route to market.”

The deal offers significant synergies by combining the two organisations. In particular, Cains will be able to market its own beer into an additional 100-strong pub estate through its existing in-house distribution facility.

Cains was advised by David Chapman and Andrew Millington, partners at Mazars in Dudley and Birmingham.

Mr Chapman said: “The deal not only strengthens the Cains brand, but also reestablishes the links between breweries and pub ownership.”

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