LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Bank, is on the verge of completing a deal to acquire a majority stake in D&D London, the operator of restaurants such as Quaglino’s and Le Pont de la Tour, in a deal thought to be worth around £60m.
The private equity group, which has been in exclusive talks on the business since the turn of the year, will acquire a 51% stake held by Sir Terence Conran, who founded the business, and 18% owned by Caird Capital, a private equity firm formed from the ruins of HBOS.
Management, which is led by Des Gunewardena and David Loewi, is set to retain a 31% share in the business, which operates over 30 restaurants, including outlets in Paris, Copenhagen, New York and Tokyo.
It is thought that with LDC’s backing it will look to refresh a number of its London sites and expand further internationally. Last September, it signed a joint venture partnership to open its first site in Turkey.
The Duke, which will open later this year, is a JV with local operator Borsa Restaurants and features extensive outside terrace space in Trump Towers, a 2.8m sq ft luxury residential, retail and office development in central Istanbul.
Last year, it opened its first City hotel with the £50m launch of the South Place Hotel, which includes 80 bedrooms, two restaurants, three bars and “extensive private dining and meeting room facilities”.
It also recently opened two new sites ay the new Trinity Leeds development.
Crafthouse and Angelica, which were the group’s first openings in the UK, outside of London, occupy the fifth and sixth floors of the luxury shopping and lifestyle development which opened its doors last month.
Turnover in its latest financial year grew 2.5% to £75.5m, while EBITDA climbed 3% to £6.7m.
