Cerberus buys Admiral Taverns for $323 mln

By Anjuli Davies LONDON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm CerberusCapital Management is to buy British pub group Admiral Tavernsfrom part state-owned Lloyds Banking Group, which isshedding non-core businesses. While terms were not disclosed, two people familiar with thematter said on Friday the deal had an enterprise value - debtplus equity - of 200 million pounds ($323 million). The debt portion was around 150 million pounds, withCerberus providing 50 million cash, the people said. Lloyds took control of Admiral, which operates 1,100 pubs,as part of a restructuring in 2009 involving a debt-for-equityswap after the firm was swamped with 900 million pounds debt. Like many British pub groups, Admiral was hit by thecountry's moves into recession, with a smoking ban not helping. Admiral reported 27 million pounds underlying core earningsin the year to June. It hopes to sell around 100 underperformingpubs to boost profit. Cerberus will retain the existing senior management team. "Admiral's business provides an ideal platform for theacquisition of additional tenanted pubs in the UK," LeeMillstein, senior managing director at Cerberus said. Founded in 1992 by Stephen Feinberg and William Richter, NewYork-based Cerberus has more than $20 billion under management. Admiral Taverns management and Lloyds were advised by PWC,while Cerberus was advised by Sapient Corporate Finance.