Wagamama in secondary buy-out

Wagamama, a Japanese-style noodle bar chain, has been bought by private equity firm Duke Street.

The deal, for an undisclosed amount, comes six years after Wagamama was acquired by Lion Capital for £103 million.

Founded in 1992, the noodle-bar chain now has 70 restaurants in the UK, and 19 around the world.  

John Harper, partner at Duke Street comments: ‘Wagamama has the potential […] to extend its category leadership in the UK and accelerate its plans for international expansion.’

The secondary buy-out follows a failed attempt to auction the business off at the end of 2010. The two bidders involved in the auction, Morgan Stanley and Investcorp, failed to meet Lion Capital’s £250 million asking price.

Lion Capital had planned to float Wagamama in 2007, but the financial crisis meant the company did not go forward with the plans.

Nick Britton

Lexus Ernser

Nick was the Managing Editor for growthbusiness.co.uk when it was owned by Vitesse Media, before moving on to become Head of Investment Group and Editor at What Investment and thence to Head of Intermediary...

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