Boparan completes on Carluccio's deal
The sale, which was completed last night (21 May) and overseen by administrators FRP Advisory, sees Boparan Restaurant Group (BRG) takeover the Carluccio's brand and 30 of its UK sites, saving more than 800 jobs.
A further 40 Carluccio's sites, however, will be closed permanently, with a loss of 1,019 jobs.
In a separate deal, BRG has also taken on Carluccio’s franchise partnership in the UAE and Qatar; and also acquired a single site in Dublin.
While the financial details of the deal haven't been released, there is speculation online that the deal cost BRG just £3m, and that the group has plans to eventually convert 10 of the Carluccio’s sites to its fast-casual chicken brand Slim Chickens.
“We welcome Carluccio’s colleagues to BRG," says Satnam Leihal, managing director of BRG.
"This acquisition is in line with our strategy to grow our restaurant group with quality brands. Whilst it is an extremely challenging time for the sector, we believe quality hospitality businesses will recover in the long term as people return to eating out.”
Carluccio’s, which was founded over 20 years ago by the late celebrity chef Antonio Carluccio, collapsed into administration at the end of March, little more than a week after having been forced to close all its UK sites as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.
At the time, Carluccio's directors said a sustained period of challenging trading, which had been exacerbated by the Coronavirus outbreak, meant the chain was "unable to meet its financial obligations as they were due".
