Wagamama’s owner has sidestepped the need to raise fresh equity after securing £500m of debt refinancing.
Shares in The Restaurant Group, which issued £57m of new equity last April, closed up 3.3% after the announcement of the earlier-than-expected refinancing of its existing £470m of debt.
The move will ensure it can deal with its cash burn of about £5.5m a month during lockdown.
TRG, which also owns the Frankie & Benny’s and Garfunkles chains entered the pandemic a year ago with about 650 sites in the UK, six Wagamamas in America under a joint venture plus more than 50 franchised sites under the noodle brand overseas. Since then, it has shed about 250 of its British restaurants.
