The pub group co-owned by former Licensed Vintners' Association chair Noel Anderson and Irish rugby stars Jamie Heaslip, Dave Kearney, Rob Kearney and Sean O'Brien has a property portfolio worth close to €11m following its latest acquisition.

The consortium, which is now called Grand Slam Bars, purchased the highly profitable McSorley's pub in Ranelagh from long-time owners the Murray family for €5.5m this week.

McSorley's joins the group's other Dublin locations: Lemon & Duke and Little Lemon off Grafton Street; The Bridge 1859 in Ballsbridge, and The Blackrock in Blackrock.

Anderson held the lease on Lemon & Duke prior to Grand Slam Bars' formation, and the group purchased The Bridge 1859, then trading as Bellamy's, for a reported €1.35m in 2014.

They later bought The Three Tun Tavern from Wetherspoons for €2.5m before reopening it as The Blackrock in 2022. Grand Slam Bars values The Bridge 1859 and The Blackrock at €2.3m and €2.9m, respectively, according to their latest accounts.

Anderson, the group's controlling shareholder, took a long-term lease on Lemon & Duke at the mixed-used Royal Hibernian Way development during the crash.

Lemon & Duke, then known as Cocoon, was previously co-owned by racing driver Eddie Irvine, but it reopened under Anderson's control as Grafton Lounge in 2010 before undergoing another name change when the rugby players came on board in 2016.

Improvements to Lemon & Duke and new fixtures, fitting and equipment cost holding company The Inn on Hibernian Way Ltd around €1.1m in the gastropub's first year of operation.

In its latest annual accounts, the company reported freeholds with a book value of €529,096 prior to depreciation, ahead of the opening of the Little Lemon restaurant, which neighbours Lemon & Duke, last August.

Anderson owns around 60% of the respective holding companies for Lemon & Duke, The Bridge 1859 and The Blackrock, which have made combined accumulated profits of more than €2.8m to date. McSorley's has a further €2.9m in retained earnings.

The former Leinster and Ireland teammates each own approximately 10% of The Inn on Hibernian Way, Herberts Inns Ltd and Carysfort Inns Ltd through their business vehicles.

The Inn on Hibernian Way had shareholders' funds of €1.9m in February 2023, including tangible assets of €88,800 and €925,400 in cash. The company made profit of €591,300 over the prior 12 months, bringing its accumulated profits to €1.3m.

Herbert Inns, which owns The Bridge 1859, held shareholders' funds totalling €2.4m last February, including €264,700 in cash. The company's profit and loss account held more than €1.7m after the firm made €224,600 for the year.

The accounts list freehold property with a book value of over €2.3m, indicating the Dublin 4 pub's value has increased by nearly €1m over the past decade.

The Blackrock opened in August 2022 and parent company Carysfort Inns recorded an annual €191,000 loss six months later.

The value of the freehold on the south Dublin pub was marked at €2.9m after more than €780,000 in improvements were made, including new fixtures and fittings.

Carysfort Inns owed some €1.1m to The Inn on Hibernian Way, plus a €2.1m mortgage guaranteed by its sister companies.

Ranelagh Brewing Company Ltd, which owned McSorley's prior to the sale, made a profit of €467,400 in the 12 months to May 2023. As a result, its accumulated profits increased to €2.9m.

The firm held property, plant and equipment worth €2.9m, including land and buildings freehold (€2.4m), short leasehold property (€99,500), and fixture, fittings and equipment (€425,900), as well as cash reserves of €660,500 and investments of €725,000.

Grand Slam Bars, which now employs more than 200 people across its McSorley's and its other locations, plans to introduce a new cocktail menu at McSorley's and will host special events around rugby's autumn internationals and the Six Nations.

Anderson said the new owners "look forward to continuing that excellent legacy, maintaining McSorley’s as one of the best places to socialise in South Dublin.

"As we have been able to grow, adding new venues and people to the team, we want to ensure the same values of strong service, superior delivery and a dynamic approach are maintained across the group," he continued

"Consistency is easier to maintain when we are all working under the same banner. We also wanted a name that drew on the amazing sporting success of our directors, well at least four of them."

Grand Slam Bars registered McSorley's (Ranelagh) Ltd in April, and the new company will publish its first annual return in October.

Photo: (l-r) Noel Anderson (2nd from right) and his fellow directors, Rob Kearney (left); Sean O’Brien (2nd from left); and Jamie Heaslip (right). (Pic: Naoise Culhane)