The company behind the Frankie & Benny’s and Chiquito restaurants will tap shareholders for £315m after agreeing a “transformative” £559m takeover of the Wagamama chain.
As revealed by The Times, The Restaurant Group beat private equity firms for a sale that was launched in June by Goldman Sachs on behalf of Duke Street, Wagamama’s private equity backer.
The Restaurant Group, whose lead adviser is RBC Capital Markets, said that it would make a cash payment of £357m on the back of a rights issue fully underwritten by JP Morgan and Numis and would take out a £220m facility underwritten by Royal Bank of Canada.
On top of the cash payment, it will assume Wagamama’s net debt of £202m.
According to the Telegraph, around £80m was wiped off the stock market value of Restaurant Group after investors reacted negatively to a planned takeover and shares sank 13%.
Shares sank 13% as the company announced plans to tap investors for £315m and take out £220m of new loans to fund the deal.
