Seaside pubs in south Ceredigion and Meirionnydd are to be sold off as a brewery announces plans to offload a portfolio of almost 100 of its pubs in Wales at an asking price of £87.3 million.

Brains Brewery has put the Ship Inn in Tresaith, Penwig Hotel in New Quay and both the Dovey Inn and Penhelig Arms Hotel in Aberdyfi up for sale as part of the package, with the company deciding to try and sell all 99 to “one single investor”.

It follows last year’s decision by SA Brains - which had run Lord Beechings, Court Royale, and Scholars in Aberystwyth, as well as The Monachty in Aberaeron along with The Penwig and Ship Inn - to transfer the running of 156 pubs in Wales to Marston’s on a 25-year lease in a bid to save 1,300 jobs as the pandemic lockdowns hit the pub industry.

The 99 pubs currently generate the company an annual rental income from Marstons of more than £5m a year.

The Ferry Inn on the north Pembrokeshire/Ceredigion border at St Dogmaels is also up for sale as one of the 99.

At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Brains announced it would close 40 of its pubs in Wales due to economic certainty, and closed the doors of more than 100 of its pubs in December 2020 in the wake of a Welsh Government alcohol ban amid a surge in Covid-19 cases throughout the country ahead of the festive period.

The 138-year-old Cardiff-based brewery said that the firebreak lockdown last year had cost the business more than £1.6m.

Property advisory firm Avison Young have been appointed to market the portfolio with the aim of “striking a deal with an single investor” and expected “significant levels of demand” for the pubs.

Peter Constantine, managing director of the Avison Young’s leisure team said: “This is a rare opportunity to acquire a large, high-quality package of public houses located in strong trading positions across Wales. “They benefit from a secure income stream let to an excellent covenant.

“We anticipate significant levels of demand as packages of this quality rarely come to the market.”