Kings Road pub The Hand and Flower is one of 14 belonging to the Realpubs group which has been taken over by over by rival pub company Greene King, as part of an ongoing strategy to expand in time for the 2012 Olympics.

Greene King bought all 14 Realpubs sites for £53.1m.

Malcolm Heap and Nick Pring, the two founders of Realpubs, have been retained for a minimum of two years. They will become part of the management team helping to with the conversion of existing Greene King pubs to the Realpubs premium urban local concept.

Other local pubs belonging to the group include The Queen Adelaide on Uxbridge Road and The Crabtree on Hammersmith's embankment.

Rooney Anand, Greene King chief executive says: "We are excited by this acquisition as it fits well with our strategy, by further strengthening our London presence and accelerating the development of our premium pub offer."

May 12, 2011