Steak restaurant chain Gaucho has filed for administration | City A.M. July 18, 2018 Steak restaurant Gaucho is expected to fall into administration as early as today after rescue talks for the chain failed. The company has filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator, it confirmed this morning. “Despite an extensive options process which attracted proposals from a number of parties, it is with regret that due [...]
Pleased as Punch: Debts down and profits up after sale of pubs September 2, 2015 Punch Taverns said yesterday it was back on track, announcing a four per cent increase in average profits. Last week, it said it was calling time on 153 “non-core” pubs in a £53.5m deal with investment trust New River Retail, with the proceeds to be used to reduce debt. This will allow the company to [...]
Prezzo share price reacts as bidders offer £316m for a slice of Italian food chain October 2, 2014 Italian high street restaurant chain Prezzo yesterday confirmed that it had received preliminary proposals for a potential takeover offer. Although Prezzo cautioned that any deal was unlikely to be at a premium to its closing price on Wednesday of 135p per share, or around £316m. Shares in Prezzo yesterday jumped as much as 11 per [...]
Punch founder in £37m Strada restaurant deal September 28, 2014 HUGH Osmond, the entrepreneur behind Pizza Express, Punch Taverns and the insurance group Pearl, has bought the Strada chain of Italian restaurants in a £37m deal. Sun Capital Partners, Osmond’s private equity vehicle, is buying the Strada brand and 43 restaurants from the Tragus Group in a deal announced yesterday. Osmond said his plan for [...]
Phoenix rises and sets sights on £100bn of UK acquisition opportunities August 21, 2014 Insurer Phoenix is understood to be looking at £100bn worth of potential acquisition opportunities in the UK, following a promising set of half-year results announced yesterday. The group is also seeking an investment-grade credit rating that it expects will reduce the cost of its debt by around 50 basis points and give it access [...]
McColl’s kicks off retail IPOs with plan for £50m stock market float January 27, 2014 CONVENIENCE store group McColl’s is set to jump the queue of retailers preparing to join the stock market after confirming plans yesterday to float next month. The retailer, which owns 1,276 newsagents and convenience stores, wants to raise £50m in a main market listing that is expected to value the group at around £225m. McColl’s [...]
Osmond quits Phoenix after eight years August 22, 2013 HUGH Osmond yesterday quit the board of the closed book life insurer he founded eight years ago, signalling an end to a lengthy – and not always easy – association with the industry. Osmond, the co-founder of Pizza Express, began building up Pearl in 2005, making a series of costly acquisitions. After struggling with a [...]
Phoenix rises again after £250m share issue January 30, 2013 LIFE insurer Phoenix yesterday unveiled plans to raise £250m in a share issue, enabling it to pay down some of its £2.4bn debt pile and raising the prospect of a return to the acquisition market. Chief executive Clive Bannister said the deal – first disclosed in yesterday’s City A.M. – transforms Phoenix by removing the [...]
Phoenix in £250m share placing January 30, 2013 Phoenix Group Holdings, the closed life assurance funds group created by entrepreneur Hugh Osmond, this morning confirmed plans to raise £250m in a share placing. The placing will enable the firm to reduce its debt pile, from £2.36bn to £1.85bn, as part of a major restructuring. Phoenix declared a final dividend of 26.7p a share, [...]
Phoenix close to deal with its banking group January 29, 2013 PHOENIX Group Holdings, the closed life assurance funds group created by entrepreneur Hugh Osmond , is said to be close to a breakthrough in its talks with its banking group over the extension of its £2.5bn of gross debt. According to sources, the group is close to announcing an equity issue that will enable some [...]