NewRiver REIT plc announced the acquisition of Warrington-based pub company Bravo Inns Limited for £17.9 million.

Bravo Inns owns 44 community pubs, predominantly located in North West England.

Mark Davies, Chief Financial Officer of NewRiver and CEO of Hawthorn Leisure commented: “The UK pub sector has experienced a recent revival in transaction activity and, as an early investor into community pubs, we have been tracking the success of Bravo Inns for some time.

“The transaction will increase our portfolio weighting in community pubs and demonstrates the value of our Hawthorn Leisure platform in identifying acquisitions that can deliver higher yielding sustainable cashflows with scale driven synergies.

“A further attraction of this acquisition is the quality of the pub estate and the pub partners. We look forward to welcoming Bravo Inns and its pub partners to Hawthorn Leisure.”