Pizza Express chewing over bid for Wagamama owner – but it’s already under offer
Pizza Express is contemplating serving up a surprise bid for The Restaurant Group (TRG), but no formal offer has yet been made, it is understood.
The British mock-Italian chain has apparently made initial contact with TRG in a step that could lead to a formal bid being made, according to reports late on Wednesday night by Sky News.
However, the casual dining operator, which owns the likes of Wagamama and Frankie & Benny’s, has already agreed to a deal to be bought Apollo Global Management in a deal announced on 12 October.
In an update on Thursday morning, TRG confirmed a request had been made, but “no written or verbal indicative proposal relating to a possible offer, including as to terms, price or form of consideration, has been made to the Board of TRG by Wheel Topco”.
It added that “If any proposal is provided by Wheel Topco, the Board of TRG will carefully consider its terms”, as it stressed there was “no certainty” an offer would be put forward.
Pizza Express is controlled by a medley of debt funds which include Bain Capital Credit and Cyrus Capital Partners. Allan Leighton, chair of Pizza Express, is the former chair of Wagamama and was at the helm of the Asian-inspired restaurant’s sale to TRG in 2018.
There is no guarantee the bid will go through to TRG’s board though, City sources were keen to stress to Sky News.
In fact one source told the news outlet public disclosure of Pizza Express’s interest in Wagamama’s owner could push the dough ball deliverer to ditch the possible deal altogether.
One of the sources said there had only been initial contact between the two sides to date, and that the public disclosure of its interest could prompt it to walk away.
There are other potential owners also contemplating counterbids, Sky News reported.
The surprise news of Pizza Express’s gatecrashing bid comes just a few weeks after TRG agreed to a bumper bid from private equity giant Apollo.
The £701m offer represented a 34 per cent premium on the firm’s closing price at the time and was the third made by Apollo in a series of escalating bids.
At the time Apollo said: “Apollo has closely followed TRG over many years and believes that TRG is a high quality and leading company in the casual dining market with an attractive portfolio of concepts and brands.”
Apollo’s most recent raid on John Wood didn’t make it to completion, however, after Apollo pulled the plug.
CityAM contacted TRG, Pizza Express and Apollo Global Management for comment.