One of The Restaurant Group’s biggest institutional investors has come out against the proposed £559m acquisition of the Wagamama chain.
James Thorne, UK equities fund manager at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, said that he would be using its 7.7% stake in the Frankie & Benny’s and Chiquito operator to vote against the deal at next week’s shareholder meeting.
“The strategic appeal of combining two good businesses may be understandable, but the size and price of the deal at this point in the cycle throws up too many red flags,” he said. “The share price plunge reflects the depth of concern there is.”
