Gaucho steak restaurant deal on the table amid flurry of sales in industry
The Gaucho chain of steak restaurants, popular with hungry City workers, is up for sale.
Bankers at Canaccord Genuity have been hired to work on the sale, with private equity firm ICG and Dutch entrepreneur Zeev Godik hoping to raise up to £150m.
The industry has been ripe for deals in recent times, with brands such as Prezzo, Pizza Express, Ask, Zizzi, Byron and Coco di Mama all changing hands.
Buyout group BC Partners agreed to gobble up restaurant chain Cote last week, for a fee believed to be around £250m.
Sources told City PM that Gaucho is most likely to be sold to a private equity buyer, with the success of sister brand CAU (“Carne Argentina Unica”) expected to appeal to suitors.
Gaucho lost managing director Martin Williams last year. Williams left the chain to start M restaurants, while the managing director of CAU, Charlie McLean, departed in 2013 and has since backed ventures such as Cafe Pistou on Exmouth Market.
The planned sale was first reported in the Sunday Times.
ICG and Canaccord Genuity both declined to comment.