A leading Northern Irish pub chain has bought back five properties it had sold as part of a multimillion-pound sale and leaseback arrangement three years ago, in a deal worth more than £10 million (€14.8 million).

Botanic Inns said yesterday it had repurchased five of the 11 properties it had sold, in order to reduce rental payments and give the group scope to refurbish the sites as its wishes.

The purchases were made with the support of Ulster Bank.

The properties concerned house the Apartment, the Fly, McHugh's, Ryan's and the Parador pubs. The company said it would continue to lease the properties in which six of its other pubs are based, though it may also look to buy back these leases should the opportunity arise in the future.

This latest development comes less than three years after Botanic's properties and business were sold by then owner Jas Mooney for an estimated £30 million.

The acquirers - Stephen Magorrian, then Botanic's commercial director and now its managing director; Seán Lyne, whose family owns the Irish Court Hotels group; and his business partner Noel Connellan - then restructured the business, selling on the property assets of the chain to property investors.

The three men are now seeking to expand the business and take advantage of Belfast's buzzing nightlife.

In March, Botanic made its first foray outside Belfast with the purchase of two pubs, Denvir's in Downpatrick and the Whiskey Haw in Newtownards.

Mr Magorrian said he was keen to continue expanding the business, but any future acquisitions were likely to be outside Belfast to prevent too much competition among the company's own pubs in the city centre. He did not rule out a move into the Republic.

In the year to the end of May 2006, the latest period for which accounts are available, Botanic Inns had revenue of £18.58 million, a slight decrease on the previous year. Operating profit, however, fell significantly from £1.2 million to £470,838, a decline the company attributed to rental payments of £3.2 million.

Mr Magorrian said rent-related expenses should decrease as the group no longer had to pay rent on the five repurchased sites.

Commenting on the business environment in the North, he said that, while things were quite tough in the pub market, the two take-home outlets operated by the group were performing well.

He acknowledged that the days of the "old-fashioned boozer" were probably gone and said Botanic was benefiting from higher food sales at most of its outlets. He said that at some pubs where drink sales were declining, food sales were increasing.

He also said that while the pub trade elsewhere in Ireland was suffering due to the rising popularity of drinking at home, Belfast's tourism boom was helping the group's city-centre pubs.

Botanic is planning significant alterations and refurbishments to four of the properties it has recently re-acquired, as well as expanding the Apartment, a cocktail bar overlooking Belfast's Donegal Square.