Everyone loves a summer afternoon pint — but one firm is taking a particularly deep draught.

Excellion Capital, a boutique investment advisory, has arranged a six-year £110M whole loan for Red Oak Taverns.

The independent pubco operates 208 leased and tenanted pubs across the UK.

On the face of it, this is an odd time to invest in the traditional English pub. More than 400 pubs rang last orders during 2021 in England and Wales, and a further 200 closed in the first half of 2022.

Yet some operators think they’ve found a way to beat the trend. Red Oak bucked the industry trend over the past decade and during the pandemic. It completed five acquisitions, amounting to 34 pubs, during the coronavirus lockdown in 2021, a sign of faith in the sector.

Hopes are buoyed by predictions that this year the UK hospitality industry will return to 93% of its pre-pandemic capacity.

The refinancing provides fresh capital to drive more acquisitions. Around £50M will go into a war chest for new buys.

Excellion Capital was co-founded by CEO Robert Stafler, who also founded Excellion’s sister company, Fintex Capital.