CBPE Capital LLP (CBPE), the mid-market private equity firm, has confirmed the sale of its investment in Côte Restaurants, the award winning restaurant group, to BC Partners (BC). Terms of the transaction are not disclosed.
The sale to BC represents a money multiple of 2.9x CBPE’s original investment in Côte and an IRR of 78%.
Côte was founded by a group of experienced restaurateurs, who opened the first restaurant in Wimbledon in 2007. Côte was established on the principle of serving simple, freshly prepared French food at value for money prices, an ethos which remains today.
CBPE invested in Côte in September 2013, backing Harald Samuelsson, Alex Scrimgeour and the rest of the management team, to continue to grow the business while maintaining its commitment to offering high quality food at a reasonable price.
Under CBPE’s ownership, Côte has opened 23 new restaurants across the UK and the business has created over 1,300 new jobs. The consistency of Côte’s performance across its estate is market-leading; there are no loss making sites and EBITDA has grown by over 60% since CBPE invested.
Today, Côte is one of the fastest growing, most exciting and innovative brands in the UK restaurant market. The business employs over 2,700 people across 67 restaurants nationwide, the majority of which are outside London.
Ian Moore, Partner at CBPE, said:
“Côte has achieved exceptional growth in the last two years and has been a great investment for CBPE. We had known the Côte team for a number of years before investing in the business and backed Harald, Alex and the rest of the management team because they have an uncompromising dedication to quality and a proven track record of growing successful restaurant businesses. We are delighted with Côte’s performance under our ownership and proud of the business that management has built with CBPE’s support. We wish Côte and the team every success in the future.”
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