Troubled Liverpool brewer Cains was today (7 August) put into administration. David Chubb, Ian Green and Craig Livesey of PricewaterhouseCoopers have been appointed joint administrators of Cains Beer Company PLC and related subsidiaries.

The administrators say they are working with staff at the brewery and the landlords and staff in the pubs to ensure that they remain open whilst the administrators seek buyers. They are also in communication with the key suppliers and customers in this regard.

Craig Livesey, director at PricewaterhouseCoopers in the North West and joint administrator, said, "It is currently our intention to continue to trade both the brewery and pub chain businesses and we will seek to achieve going concern sales over the coming weeks and months.

"We have already received some early indications of interest and we would also invite any parties interested in acquiring either the brewery or pub chain businesses to contact us as soon as possible."

Cains, which is based in Liverpool, is a brewer of award-winning beers and lagers and operates a chain of around 100 pubs which includes 26 freehold and 76 leasehold pubs, most of which are managed houses.

Cains was created by the 2007 reverse takeover of Honeycombe Leisure plc by Robert Cain & Co Limited. 1,000 people work in the group.

In 2002 the brewery was acquired from The Danish Brewery Group by brothers Sudarghara and Ajmail Dusanj and underwent something of a renaissance, winning numerous accolades and being named official beer for Liverpool's Capital of Culture year.

However, the group, which took on significant debts as part of the Honeycombe takeover, ran into cash flow difficulties following a downturn in trade due to the impact of the smoking ban on the pubs and the impact of significant commodity pricing increases on the brewery. These were exacerbated by reductions in consumer expenditure in the leisure sector and the fact the company had run up a large debt to HM Revenue & Customs that it could not repay.

Trading in Cains' shares was suspended by AIM last week following the issuance of a winding-up order by HMRC and failure to agree terms with its bankers, Bank of Scotland.

Prospective buyers should contact Jon Nuttall or Jonathan Hall at PricewaterhouseCoopers on 0161 245 2225.

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