Hostelry group Pubmaster said it had successfully raised £535m towards paying off loans linked to a major acquisition earlier this year.

The Hartlepool pub chain firm staged its largest bond issue to raise the funds following its deal to buy Inn Partnership in February.

The purchase of 1,200 outlets from Japanese bank Nomura took Pubmaster's estate to 3,200 and built up its presence in the North West, South West and Midlands.

Pubmaster said the bond issue was over-subscribed and had attracted support from existing and new institutional investors. It is now one the largest issuers of debt in the pub sector at £914m.

Executive chairman John Sands said: "This was the largest bond issue Pubmaster has undertaken to date and reflects a continuation of the company's strategy of tapping the capital markets to fund its long-term expansion plans.

"We are delighted by the market's positive reaction to this fundraising and pleased to welcome on board our new investors."

The deal in February left Pubmaster as the UK's fourth largest pub group behind Nomura - which owns the Unique and Voyager estates - Punch and Enterprise Inns.

It paid a total of £523m for Inn Partnership.