Pizza Express owner to pay down debt pile with £80m cash injection
The Chinese owner of restaurant chain Pizza Express has launched a tender offer to buy up £80m of the company’s unsecured bonds, as it looks to allay concerns about the firm’s financial future.
Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital, which bought the company in 2014, appointed financial advisors before crucial talks with creditors last month over its £1.1bn debt pile.
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The cash injection, of up to £80m, will be used to help pay off debt which bondholders are owed.
Pizza Express said: “Approximately 95 per cent of our UK and Ireland restaurants are profitable and there are no plans for closures outside the normal course of business.”
Pizza Express was founded in 1965, and has grown into a family-favourite staple of Britain’s high street. It just under 500 restaurants in the UK and Ireland
About £665m of the firm’s £1.1bn of loans is owned to bondholders. The money must start being paid in 2021.
Pizza Express said that despite sales rising 1.2 per cent in the three months to September, profits had sunk 8.7 per cent.
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The company said: “In the UK & Ireland segment, year-to-date performance continues to be impacted by a number of market and macroeconomic factors, including fragile consumer confidence, given ongoing uncertainty around Brexit.”
A number of high profile restaurants including Jamie’s Italian and Gaucho have slashed their store portfolio in recent years amid troubles in the casual dining sector from competition and high costs.