Barclays Private Equity has supported the £23.5 million management buy-out of Gaucho Grill, adding to its burgeoning portfolio of restaurant businesses.
Barclays Private Equity has supported the £23.5 million management buy-out of Gaucho Grill, adding to its burgeoning portfolio of restaurant businesses.
Gaucho, which opened its first outlet over ten years ago in Piccadilly, has made considerable progress since an ill-fated spell on AIM in early 2002. Hit by the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease both in the UK and Argentina – not to mention BSE-related concerns and a decline in the London tourist trade – the company’s shares sank. Gaucho was eventually taken private after just six months in July 2002.
However, the intervening years have been far kinder and Dutch founder and chief executive Zeev Godrik has seen the value of Gaucho’s business almost double despite a severe reduction in the number of restaurants, to a current total of eight. After leading the MBO, along with operations director Donald Storey and finance director Simon Couldthard, Godrik is looking to expand the portfolio once again.
“With the help of Barclays Private Equity we intend to build on our success through a measured roll out of one to two further Gaucho Grill restaurants per year, without compromising on the high quality that our customers have come to expect,” Godrik explains.
Gaucho, which is renowned for its Argentinean beef and other South American dishes, joins two French ventures in the Barclays Private Equity stable – namely sandwich chain La Croissanterie and grill restaurant Courtpaille.
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