British pub chain Punch Pubs has been bought by Fortress for what some are reporting to be £1 billion, reports The Guardian.

Fortress, backed by Japan’s SoftBank, also owns Majestic Wines. Why it paid so much for the chain has invited speculation.

On one hand, the 1,300 Punch Pubs are mostly in suburbia or rural locations and have not been affected as much by Covid shutdowns as big city pubs which have seen their customers disappear.

However, what has to be tantalising to Fortress is that Punch owns more than 90 percent of the freeholds of its properties.