CBPE dines out with Côte

The deal comes after a prolonged process, stretching out over an estimated 10 months. Côte's owner and business tycoon Richard Caring hired Canaccord Genuity Hawkpoint at the end of last year to oversee the sales process. The chain was expected to fetch more than £120m.

Private equity firms appeared to be the main bidders in the process, with Bridgepoint, LDC, Equistone, TA Associates and Investcorp all reported to have been interested.

Caring, who before the deal held a 50% stake in Côte, owns a host of high-end London restaurants including The Ivy, Scott's and Le Caprice as well as Annabel's nightclub.

Following the deal, CBPE will back the existing management team to continue the chain's growth. The investment came from CBPE's Fund VIII, which closed in February 2010 on £405m.

As part of the deal, the Côte management team and founders will reinvest in the business alongside CBPE. One of the founders, Nick Fiddle, will join the board as a non-executive director.

Debt for the deal was provided by Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking's Acquisition Finance team, the HSBC Leveraged Finance team and GE Capital.

Company
Established in Wimbledon in 2007, Côte specialises in French food. Harald Samuelsson and Alex Scrimgeour, alongside the management team, have overseen the rapid expansion of the bistro chain over the past six years. Côte currently operates 37 restaurants.

As of 2012, the chain employed 1,124 people and reported turnover of £49m and operating profits of £7.4m.

People
The CBPE investment was led by Ian Moore and Sean Dinnen. Harald Samuelsson and Alex Scrimgeour are joint managing directors of Côte.

Advisers
Equity - Reed Smith (Legal).
Vendor - Olswang (Legal).
Debt - DLA Piper (Legal).

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• Topics
• Consumer
• UK / Ireland
• Buyouts
• Close Brothers Private Equity (CBPE)
• Bridgepoint
• LDC
• Equistone Partners Europe
• TA Associates