European private equity firm Cinven today announces the completion of the sale of ASK and Zizzi to Bridgepoint for £250million. This follows the announcement in December 2014 of the signing of a definitive agreement to sell the business.
This transaction represents Cinven's complete exit from its investment in the Gondola Group, the market leader in the UK casual dining sector, following the sale of PizzaExpress to Hony Capital in July 2014 and Byron Hamburgers to Hutton Collins in October 2013 for a combined consideration of approximately £1 billion. This sale brings the total sale proceeds to approximately £1.3 billion, generating a money multiple of 2.4 times.
Cinven originally invested in Gondola in 2007 through a public-to-private transaction from the London Stock Exchange.