The company behind the Frankie & Benny’s and Chiquito restaurant brands is in advanced talks over an audacious £600m swoop on the Wagamama chain.
The Times has learnt that The Restaurant Group is the preferred bidder after a sale process launched in June by Goldman Sachs on behalf of Duke Street and Hutton Collins, the Asian noodle bar chain’s private equity backers.
The bid from Restaurant Group has overtaken earlier offers from private equity groups, including KKR, the US buyout giant, and L Catterton, a consumer-focused private equity firm, according to the FT.
An acquisition of Wagamama, chaired by Allan Leighton, would complete a remarkable turnaround for The Restaurant Group after a spate of profit warnings in early 2016 led to a change of management and the closure of a clutch of loss-making outlets.
