Magic circle and US firms lead on £559m Wagamama takeover by Frankie & Benny's owner
The Restaurant Group is taking over the Asian cuisine chain for £559m
October 30, 2018 at 08:03 AM
2 minute read
Latham & Watkins and Slaughter and May have taken roles on the acquisition of Asian cuisine chain Wagamama by The Restaurant Group (TRG) for £559m.
TRG, which also owns restaurant brands including American-Italian chain Frankie & Benny's and Mexican grill chain Chiquito, is being advised by Slaughters, with corporate partners David Johnson and Sally Wokes leading for the firm. Slaughters' head of debt capital markets Matthew Tobin is also advising.
Latham & Watkins is advising Wagamama and its selling shareholders on the transaction, with a London-based team led by global co-head of private equity Kem Ihenacho and M&A partner Martin Saywell, with equity capital markets partner Claire Keast-Butler and corporate finance partner Tracy Edmonson also advising.
Meanwhile Linklaters is advising underwriter JP Morgan Cazenove. US capital markets partner Pam Shores and London based equities co-head John Lane are leading the firm's team.
TRG will pay £357m in cash and take on £202m in debt to purchase the chain, with the deal expected to close in mid-December.
Wagamama has 133 restaurants in the UK as well as five in the US. It has also recently expanded its operations across Europe, the Middle East and New Zealand.
The deal comes amid a troubled UK restaurant sector that has seen burger chains Gourmet Burger Kitchen and Byron file for CVAs, while Gaucho steakhouse filed for administration in July.
Earlier this month, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Cleary Gotlieb Steen & Hamilton took roles advising on coffee giant Lavazza's purchase of Mars Drinks' businesses for a reported £499m.
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