Hony buys Pizza Express from Cinven for $1.54b

The transaction is the largest seen in Europe's casual dining industry in the past five years, Hony said in a statement.

Cinven owns Gondola Group, operator of restaurant brands including Zizzi, ASK Italian and Kettner's, as well as Pizza Express. The buyout firm acquired the parent company in a public-to-private transaction worth EUR1.34 billion ($1.8 billion) in 2007.

The sale of Pizza Express follows the sale of Byron Hamburgers, an up-market burger chain owned by the Gondola Group, to European private equity firm Hutton Collins Partners for GBP100 million last year.

Pizza Express currently has 436 shops in the UK and an additional 68 internationally, with 12 of which in Hong Kong, nine in Shanghai and one in Beijing. Richard Hodgson, Pizza Express's CEO, will remain with the business.

"We have built a strong track record in helping Chinese enterprises to expand globally," said John Zhao, CEO of Hony. "With Pizza Express, we have the opportunity to leverage our local expertise to accelerate its growth in the Chinese market, as well as to continue to drive its business forward in the UK."

Hony oversees approximately $7 billion of assets under management. It closed its fifth US dollar-denominated fund at $2.35 billion in early 2012 in addition to raising RMB10 billion ($1.6 billion) for its second renminbi vehicle.

The firm focuses on the consumer, advanced manufacturing, healthcare and services and energy sectors, as well as cross-border investments. Domestically, it invests predominantly in Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs), having committed around RMB14 billion ($2.3 billion) to 31 SOEs over the past decade.

Goldman Sachs advised Gondola on the transaction, while J.P Morgan, Linklaters and KPMG advised Hony.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Consumer
• Buyouts
• Secondaries
• China
• Hony Capital
• Outbound investment
• buyout
• Consumer
• Secondaries