LDC, the leading UK mid-market private equity house, has backed the £50 million management buyout of premium restaurant group D&D London, which owns over 30 restaurants in London, Leeds, Paris, New York, Istanbul and Tokyo. The deal will enable the company to fund further domestic and international expansion as well as invest in and enhance its diverse portfolio of outlets, which includes some of London’s most iconic restaurants.
As a result of the transaction, LDC will buy out vendors Conran Holdings and private equity investors Caird Capital, with the company’s senior management retaining their investment in the business.
CEO Des Gunewardena and Managing Director David Loewi, who originally formed D&D London in 2006, following a partial management buyout of the business then known as Conran Restaurants, from Conran Holdings, have built the company into one of the world’s leading restaurant groups.
D&D London owns and operates over 30 premium restaurants globally. In the UK its focus is on central London, where many of its outlets have become iconic restaurants, such as Coq d’Argent in the City, Quaglino’s in Mayfair, the Bluebird in Chelsea, and Plateau in Canary Wharf. Other high-profile outlets include Skylon, on London’s South Bank, Kensington Place and Launceston Place.
Renewed expansion
Last year marked a renewed period of expansion for D&D in London with the opening of new venues – 3 South Place and Angler restaurants in the South Place Hotel off Moorgate; and two restaurants (New Street Grill and Fish Market), a wine shop (New Street Wine Shop) and a bar (Old Bengal Bar) in the Old Bengal Warehouse off Bishopsgate. Last month the group also launched its first UK restaurants outside London, Crafthouse and Angelica, which opened adjacent to the new Trinity shopping centre in Leeds.
D&D London has also diversified into hotels. In 2012 the group opened the £50 million, 80-room, boutique hotel, South Place, based in the City of London, which has been nominated for a number of awards including listing on Conde Nast’s 2013 “Hotlist” of the best new hotels in the world.
Overseas ventures
D&D’s first overseas venture was Alcazar in Paris (1998), which was followed by the launch of Guastavino’s in New York (2000) and, more recently, two restaurants, Botanica and Iconic, in Tokyo (2007). D&D’s latest international venture is a 10,000 sq ft restaurant complex in Istanbul’s Trump Towers, which is set to open in May 2013.
D & D’s business model
D&D London’s business model is to create high-quality premium restaurants, each trading under its own fascia, with its format driven by the unique characteristics of its concept and location, targeting the mass affluent largely across central London and other global hubs.
D&D London has demonstrated its ability to create enduring restaurant concepts, many of which have traded successfully for over a decade, and the management has an excellent track record of delivering strong returns on refurbished and renewed sites as well as new venues. As a result the group is well positioned to capture an increasing share of the corporate market as well as additional spending from individual customers as economic conditions gradually improve.
Daniel Sasaki, Managing Director of LDC, commented:
“D&D London has demonstrated a fantastic ability to create enduring premium restaurant concepts and many of its outlets are regarded as among the world’s most famous restaurants. We are delighted to be backing Des and David, who lead an outstanding management team, to further enhance D&D’s growth and performance through investing in the group’s current portfolio while also opening new sites. With its iconic restaurants and diversification into hotels, D&D has an exciting strategy and we look forward to helping the group unlock its global potential.”
Des Gunewardena, CEO of D&D London, commented:
“This is an important point in the development of D&D. We have made good progress this year opening new venues, diversifying our core portfolio and expanding internationally and, despite the continuing fragile economy, D&D will report another year of increased revenue and profits. Our new partnership with LDC will enable us to continue to invest in our business and in growing D&D in the UK and internationally. I’m confident they will be excellent partners for us going forward.”
About LDC
1. LDC is part of the Lloyds Banking Group and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
2. LDC backs ambitious management teams from UK-based companies seeking between £2m and £100m of equity for management buy-outs, institutional buy-outs or development capital transactions.
3. LDC has, since 1981, completed over 500 investments.
4. LDC has a portfolio of over 80 businesses across the UK which collectively generates £3bn of revenues and £450m of profit, and employs over 30,000 people.
5. LDC invests in a broad range of sectors and has particular experience in, Financial Services, Healthcare, Industrials, Retail & Consumer, TMT, Travel & Leisure and Support Services.
6. LDC has invested £1.5bn into ambitious businesses in the past five years to support their growth. It plans to invest £2bn over the next five years.
7. LDC invested over £280m of equity across 18 new businesses in 2012. It also continued to support the ‘buy and build’ strategies of our portfolio firms with over £40m of additional equity funding for acquisitions during the same period.
8. LDC is the leading private equity company in the UK mid-market. Recent transactions include investments with New World Pubco, Fever-Tree, Blue Rubicon, MAMA Group, Keoghs, Forest Holidays, Dale Power Solution, Metronet, Bifold Group, Airline Services Limited and TD Travel.
9. LDC has a UK regional network alongside an international operation based in Hong Kong.
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