Cinven, the private equity backer of Gondola, has appointed separate advisers to oversee the £1bn sales of PizzaExpress, and sister brands Ask Italian and Zizzi, according to The Times.
It states that Gondola has appointed Goldman Sachs to handle a sale of its biggest brand, although an initial public offering has not been ruled out, while Rothschild has been appointed to find a buyer for the combined Ask and Zizzi business.
The newspaper says that sources close to the process believe that international private equity firms were hopeful of securing a deal within the next two to three months for PizzaExpress, which is set to open its 500th site in Beijing later this month. It is thought the new site based in a shopping centre will be company-owned rather than franchised.
In the nine-month period to April, PizzaExpress’s UK business reported like-for-like sales growth of 2.8%.
Reports first surfaced last year that Cinven was reviewing its options regarding Gondola, with a £1.3bn sale or float of the whole group muted as a possibility.
PizzaExpress, which is led by Richard Hodgson, currently operates 66 international restaurant and 433 sites across the UK. Although it is looking to open 20 sites a year in the UK, it is internationally where the brand has most potential and it is set to focus on expansion in India and the Far East in particular over the next few years.
It accounts for around £400m of Gondola’s total revenues of more than £600m. The company, which is led by Harvey Smyth, currently has about £425m of net bank debt after selling the fast-growing Byron chain last year to Hutton Collins for £100m.
