Restaurant chain Clapham House was at the centre of takeover speculation yesterday, after it emerged the owner of the Nando's chain held an 11.25 per cent stake in the company.
Clapham House owns restaurant chains like Real Greek and Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK), which opened a branch in the Mailbox last week.
Shares in the company rose five per cent after the announcement on Friday evening from private equity firm Capricorn Ventures about the ownership of the Clapham shares.
The Capricorn announcement was made just days after Clapham revealed it expected to miss profit forecasts because of poor trading at
Tootsies, its chain of shopping centre-based eateries.
And it stimulated further market movement, with long-term shareholders Henderson Global Investors increasing their stake from 3.89 to 5.09 per cent yesterday.
As well as owning the Nando's chicken
restaurants, Capricorn has a majority stake in Pizza Express after taking the business private in 2003.
The management team of Pizza Express at that time was David Page and Paul Campbell, who now run Clapham House.
Last week Clapham warned growth would be "significantly" below expectations for the years ending March 2008 and 2009, sending shares down by more than 40 per cent.
Other parts of the restaurant industry were also affected by the downturn, with Frankie & Benny's owner Restaurant Group down 24 per cent over the course of last week.
Analysts Numis Securities said private equity interest in the restaurant sector may now be rekindled following the recent plunge in share prices at Clapham.
A spokesman said: "While the intentions of Capricorn Ventures are unclear at this stage, it is not unreasonable to expect that a takeover battle may loom with ownership of the fast casual dining burger chain Gourmet Burger Kitchen the star prize."
The City firm suggested a price of between 250p and 280p a share for Clapham House, valuing the business at up to £102 million.
