M&B strikes a deal for Hollywood Bowl

All Bar One pubs group Mitchells & Butlers is selling its Hollywood Bowl ten-pin bowling business to rival AMF Bowling in a deal worth £39 million.

AMF, which is owned by Butlins holiday camp firm Bourne Leisure, will add Hollywood Bowl's 24 sites to its existing 33 UK bowling centres.

M&B is selling off its non-core businesses to focus on its pub and restaurant businesses, which include the Harvester, Toby Carvery and O'Neill's chains, as well as hundreds of individual bars, including the Sheep Heid Inn and Deacon Brodie's Tavern in Edinburgh and the Hawes Inn in South Queensferry.

The firm is disposing of Hollywood Bowl for 27m and will sell four remaining freehold properties with the business for 12m in due course.

There is a single Scottish Hollywood Bowl site, in Glasgow, while AMF has operations in Glasgow and Stirling.

AMF originated in the US more than a century ago as American Machine & Foundry. It revolutionised ten-pin bowling in the 1940s with the first automated pinspotter machine, which resets the pins after a player has bowled. AMF sold its UK arm in 2004.

M&B chief executive Adam Fowle said: "This further disposal of non-core assets is another important step towards focusing the business on our market leading growth brands."

The company has shifted the business towards its food offering since smoking bans were introduced in 2006 and 2007, although it reported a slowdown in sales after the World Cup saw fans turn to drinks-led pubs to watch football matches.