WHIreland acting as Sole Broker & NOMAD in £25m fundraise
Various Eateries, whose group (the “Group”) owns, develops and operates restaurant sites in the United Kingdom, announces its intention to seek admission (“Admission”) to trading on AIM, a market of the London Stock Exchange, of the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the Company. Admission is expected to take place end of September/early October 2020. The Company intends to raise up to £25 million by way of a placing of its Ordinary Shares on Admission.
Highlights
Exceptional leadership team – members of the VE Board have created some of the UK’s largest and most well known hospitality groups. Between them, they have opened more than 400 new sites and have generated attractive returns for investors since the mid 1990s.
- Hugh Osmond, Founder – PizzaExpress, My Kinda Town, Punch Group
- Andy Bassadone, Chairman – My Kinda Town, Strada, Côte Restaurants, Bill’s, The Ivy Collection
- Yishay Malkov, CEO – The Ivy Collection, Gordon Ramsay Holdings, Roka Zuma, Park Chinois
- Oli Williams, CFO – itsu, McDonald’s
- Matt Fanthorpe, Chef Director – Guy Savoy, Jamie’s Italian
Established platform business operating two core brands, Coppa Club & Tavolino, both positioned to benefit from the post-Covid environment.
- Ten sites in operation, with five sites in London and five sites outside, providing a platform to scale organically at pace
Unprecedented growth opportunity – the Directors believe site availability, acquisition opportunities, reduced competition, availability of talent and changes in consumer behaviour provide opportunities to accelerate the Group’s growth
Use of funds – the Directors believe Admission will allow the Group to advance its plans to roll out the Coppa Club and Tavolino brands, while allowing greater access to capital to fund future activities including acquisitions and for working capital
Hugh Osmond, Founder of Various Eateries, commented:
“I believe that Covid-19 is the biggest event to hit the UK economy outside of war-time. Whilst I deplore the terrible effect it has had on our industry, we are confident that there will be major opportunities for a well funded group with strong management to build a fantastic business in the aftermath of Covid. We are also confident that we have one of the most experienced teams ever assembled in the hospitality sector, 2020s-appropriate brands, and an established platform business and I am firmly of the view that the opportunity is as big as it was in the early 1990s when I jointly led the acquisition of PizzaExpress.
“The funds raised will be principally used to take advantage of the opportunities and accelerate growth. Our senior team has an established track record of acquiring, converting and opening sites and, with, what we perceive to be, the availability of premium sites at attractive rents, I believe the prospects for Coppa Club and Tavolino are exciting.
“There are also a number of well-known brands out there that are struggling to navigate the pandemic and various other industry pressures. Should the right opportunities present themselves, we would consider supplementing our organic growth through acquisition, offering distressed brands a more sustainable future as part of the Group.
“The brands we operate have been designed to cater to changing consumer preferences. Coppa Club provides all-day flexible spaces ideal for remote working as well as extensive outdoor spaces, and separate bar, lounge and restaurant areas. Tavolino is a modern all-day Italian bistro with potential for every high street. With a team that between them have created some of the UK’s most well-known sit-down restaurant groups over a period of 27 years, we believe we are ideally placed to make the most of the post-lockdown landscape.”
WHIreland Corporate & Institutional Broking contacts:
Harry Ansell, Adam Pollock (Broking)
Katy Mitchell, Lydia Zychowska (Corporate Finance)
+44 (0)20 7220 1674