The agreement will leave the company with just shy of 3,500 pubs – with the non-core estate standing at 550 premises.

The disposal comprises 150 pubs from the non-core estate and eight pubs from the core estate that “no longer meet our criteria as a core pub”.

The agreement is unconditional and expected to close on September 11.

Punch said the pubs being sold generated earnings before interest and tax of £7.3m over the past twelve months.

Punch said it will issue a full-year trading update for the financial year to August 22 on September 1. NewRiver identified the pub sector as an attractive asset class to deliver on its business objectives and in November 2013 the Company acquired a portfolio of 202 pubs from Marston’s. Last October, the company completed a drawn-out restructuring that saw it cut its borrowings by £600m, leaving it with about £1.5bn in net debt. The Company’s portfolio consists of approximately 4,096 pubs located across the United Kingdom.

It said: “The revenue arrears are negligible and beer volumes have increased by 2.24% per annum, compound, over the last four years”.

NewRiver has appointed a third-party administration firm to run the pubs, though it stated it might look to make use of surplus land for residential or retail use, together with for the constructing of comfort shops.

Britain’s second largest pub landlord is offloading the non-core websites to NewRiver Retail in a deal that values the hostelries at a mean of about £340,000.

Sapient Corporate Finance advised Punch on the deal, while NewRiver was advised by Colliers worldwide.