Pub operator London Town has acquired 39 pubs in North and West England for £16.24m from property holding company Save, part of Incorporated Holdings.

The portfolio comprises 30 freehold and nine leasehold properties, making an average price of £416,000 per pub.

London Town plans to finance the deal through a £12.7m bank loan from Anglo Irish and a near-£10m share issue.

Non-executive chair, Andrew Wilson, said: “This acquisition represents another milestone in the group’s development, as it seeks to further enhance shareholder value from its expanding portfolio of pubs, which present attractive growth opportunities”

The company, which now owns 225 sites, anticipates that the new collection will earn £1.14m gross per annum before paying the operator, County Estates Management.