Mitchells & Butlers has today launched an open share offer to raise £351m in additional capital, as it reported a plunge in sales due to the closure of pubs and restaurants in Britain's latest lockdown.
The Harvester, Toby Carvery and All Bar One owner said total managed sales between September 27 and January 16 slumped 69.8% on-year.
M&B initially announced the plan to raise £350m in fresh equity from investors last week as it seeks to ride out the Covid-19 pandemic.
The crisis-hit company today proposed to offer 7 new shares for every 18 existing shares to qualifying shareholders, at a price of 210 pence per share.
The British pub operator, whose German businesses were closed last November, said its cash burn is estimated to be between £30-35m a month since the start of the year during closures.
"The hospitality industry has done everything that has been asked of it to date and, now that the vaccines are being rolled out and infections are dropping, we are hopeful that pubs and restaurants will soon be allowed to reopen safely," its chief executive Phil Urban said.
The company has also agreed with the trustee of its pension funds to delay monthly contributions from January until March 2021.
