Prezzo, the operator of the eponymous Italian chain of restaurants, has announced that talks with the management team over a possible buyout of the company have ended, due to the current conditions in the banking market.
In a statement, the company confirmed that it had received a preliminary approach from some of the members of the board – led by Jonathan Kaye – but that these talks had now ended.
The group said that it was not in discussions with any other party, but that the company’s directors and members of the Kaye family reserved the right to participate in an offer for Prezzo within the next six months.
The comments follow an admission by Prezzo in May saying that it had received a takeover approach and an announcement in September saying that it was still in ongoing talks about taking the business private with a potential management buyout team currently in negotiations over funding.
The restaurant group reported a 39% decline in first-half pre-tax profits last month and said that trading conditions were the toughest it had experienced since it opened in 2000.
