Entertainment and event group Mean Fiddler has more than doubled its portfolio with the acquisition of 21 clubs, pubs and restaurants from the Glasgow-based operator, Big Beat.

The £18.5m management deal was secured after Big Beat called in the receivers in April, just days after the temporary closure of its flagship London club, Home, due to drugs offences.

Receiver KPMG awarded the assets to Finlaw 279, a shelf company, backed by a group of leisure entrepreneurs, including Peter Dyer who owns the Hanover Grand nightclub in London. Mean Fiddler Group, who operates the Reading and Fleadh festivals and owns London venues The Astoria, The Garage and Subterania, will take over the Big Beat estate when the deal completes.

Blair Nimmo of KPMG is confident that of the 450 enquiries and 123 offers, Mean Fiddler is the right choice: Big Beat had a strong portfolio of licensed premises and we are confident that the new owners have exciting plans to develop the business.