Tragus buys Spanish restaurant chain La Tasca for £96m

British restaurant chain Tragus has agreed to buy Spanish restaurant chain La Tasca Group for approximately £96m. Tragus, owner of the Café Rouge and Bella Italia chains was bought by private equity firm Blackstone Group in December 2006. The terms of the proposals enable all La Tasca shareholders to receive 185p in cash for each scheme share. The bid represents a premium of approximately 12% of the closing price of 165p per La Tasca share on 7 February 2007, being the last business day prior to the commencement of the offer period. The directors, who have been so advised by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Altium, consider the terms of the proposals to be fair and reasonable. La Tasca has 58 restaurants in the United Kingdom and four in the United States, and eight La Vinas and three Sam & Maxie’s Bar, Grill and Smokehouses. Graham Turner, chief executive officer of the Tragus Group, said: “We are delighted that the La Tasca directors have decided to recommend unanimously our offer. La Tasca will be an excellent addition to the Tragus Group, and we are looking forward to fully integrating and developing the business further. “It is our intention to continue to roll out the La Tasca brand with significant capital investment. La Tasca will provide a strong complement to our existing Café Rouge and Bella Italia brands and will provide Tragus with the number one Spanish casual dining brand in the UK.”