Various Eateries enters AIM

Various Eateries, the Hugh Osmond-backed operator of the Coppa Club, has entered its first day of trading on the AIM today (25 September).

The company has raised £25m (before expenses) by way of placing 34,246,576 new ordinary shares with institutional and other investors at a price of 73 pence per ordinary share.

Its market capitalisation at the placing price on admission will be £65m.

Net proceeds will be used to advance the group’s plans to roll out its Coppa Club and Tavolina brands, and to fund future activities which could include further acquisitions.

“To be launching our flotation into the teeth of the worst crisis ever faced by the hospitality industry is an incredible achievement,” said Osmond. “It is a testament to the strength of the Various Eateries team and to our brokers, WH Ireland.

“I am sad to see many high streets devastated by the turmoil in hospitality and retail. But we will take those empty sites and turn them into busy all-day community hubs suited for how people in the post-Covid 2020s will want to live.

“Hospitality is about so much more than food and drink. Hospitality is about freedom, frivolity and fun. It is about providing places that human beings want to go to in order to meet other human beings, to socialise and to enjoy life.

“To many, this crisis is an existential threat; but it is also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a new, major leisure business, based on how people want to live now.

“That is why we are floating Various Eateries today and that is what we are raising money to try to achieve.”