Bridgepoint completed the acquisition of Italian-themed casual dining restaurants ASK Italian and Zizzi for £250 million

LONDON, 10-2-2015 — /EuropaWire/ — Bridgepoint has completed the acquisition of Italian-themed casual dining restaurants ASK Italian and Zizzi in a transaction totalling £250 million. At the same time the restaurant group announced its unaudited financial results for the 28 weeks ended 11th January 2015.

During the period, the combined ASK-Zizzi business recorded £119m of turnover, up 9.6% on the previous year, and £17.6m of EBITDA, up 21.1% on the previous year. EBITDA margin grew from 13.4% to 14.8% in the period. ASK and Zizzi currently operate 137 and 110 restaurants respectively across the UK.

December Trading Update

Trading has been strong in both ASK and Zizzi during the whole of 2014. Christmas was no exception, recording the highest ever weekly sales for the group for two consecutive weeks.

Commenting on the performance, ASK Zizzi chief executive Steve Holmes said:

‘These are exciting times for ASK-Zizzi. Bridgepoint’s acquisition of our business has just completed and we are delivering strong trading momentum.  With a new supportive investor, our focus now is on the continued evolution of our brands, investment in our estate of restaurants and the development of our footprint in the UK casual dining market.’

Business update

Since July 2014, Zizzi has opened two units, in Telford and Stratford-upon-Avon, both of which are significantly exceeding expectations.  In the second half, a further three Zizzi’s and five ASK’s are planned.  Two of these have already opened in January – Zizzi opening its 4th unit in Glasgow, in the Silverburn Shopping Centre extension, and an ASK Italian in Swindon’s Regents Circus.

The transformation of ASK Italian is nearing completion and really resonating with customers.  People are loving the differentiated modern design and quality food offer developed by Theo Randall. This cements ASK’s return to roll-out following its repositioning, with its most recent openings, in Bluewater and New Street, Birmingham, already being in the top 10 grossing restaurants in the estate.

Investment in the existing estate has continued at pace.  The evolution of the Zizzi brand continues and all its restaurants have received investment within the last six years, while the transformation of ASK Italian has now reached 80 of its 110 locations since 2012. Both programmes continue to generate market-leading returns.

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