M&A Deal Summary

LGV Capital Acquires Casual Dining Group

On January 18, 2005, private equity firm LGV Capital acquired restaurant Casual Dining Group from ECI Partners for 86M GBP

Acquisition Highlights
  • This is LGV Capital’s 1st transaction in the Restaurants sector.
  • This is LGV Capital’s largest (disclosed) transaction.
  • This is LGV Capital’s 11th transaction in the United Kingdom.
Investment Fate
  • Casual Dining Group was sold to a consortium of financial buyers in 2006 for 432M GBP.
  • Casual Dining Group was recapitalized in 2015.

M&A Deal Summary
Date 2005-01-18
Target Casual Dining Group
Sector Restaurants
Buyer(s) LGV Capital
Sellers(s) ECI Partners
Deal Type Secondary Buyout
Deal Value 86M GBP

Target

Casual Dining Group

London, United Kingdom
Casual Dining Group is an independent restaurant company comprised of over 140 restaurants trading as Bella Italia, Café Rouge, and Las Iguanas. Its restaurants are located across the country, from Aberdeen to Plymouth, employing almost 8000 people and serving 20 million meals each year. Casual Dining was formed in 2002 and is based in London.

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Buyer(S) 1

Buyer

LGV Capital

London, United Kingdom
Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 1989
PE ASSETS 1.6B GBP
Size Large
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

LGV Capital Ltd is the private equity arm of Legal & General Group plc, an FTSE-100 quoted insurance firm that invests in middle market consumer, healthcare, leisure and services companies headquartered in the British Isles. LGV focuses on buyouts of rapidly growing, profitable companies with defensible market positions and strong management. LGV looks to invest £15 million in businesses valued from £25 to £200 million. The Firm targets companies in specialist retail, consumer services, food/beverages, household, personal care/OTC products, luxury branded goods, residential care, education, life sciences, animal health, pubs, restaurants, caravan parks, spas, recreational facilities, consultancy, outsourcing, human capital, logistics, IT services and facilities managements. LGV Capital Ltd was formerly known as Legal & General Ventures. LGV was formed in 1989 and is based in London.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 11 of 22
Sector (Restaurants) 1 of 3
Type (Secondary Buyout) 3 of 5
Country (United Kingdom) 11 of 20
Year (2005) 1 of 3
Size (of disclosed) 1 of 6
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2004-12-13 Kingfield Heath Holdings

Sheffield, United Kingdom

Kingfield Heath Holdings is a wholesale supplier of office products. It supplies a wide range of traditional stationery products, paper, envelopes, electronic office supplies, business machines, furniture and other office products to office supplies dealers and resellers throughout the UK. Kingfield Heath Holdings is based in Sheffield, United Kingdom.

Buy £85M
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2005-04-01 Trident Components Group

London, United Kingdom

Trident Components Group Ltd. is a developing, manufacturing, processing, and assembling light metal components and modules. It manufactures die-cast products in aluminum, magnesium, and zinc, as well as injection molded plastic parts ready for fitting.

Sell €120M

Seller(S) 1

SELLER

ECI Partners

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor

Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 1976
PE ASSETS 2.0B GBP
Size Large
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

ECI Partners is a private equity firm focused on the smaller middle-market company that invests in growing businesses valued up to £300m. ECI looks for UK businesses or businesses with a substantial presence in the UK. Funds are generally used to support expansion, acquisitions, management buyouts, buy-ins, turnarounds, and refinancing. Target sectors include IT services, support services, Insurance, and SME services. ECI will not invest in early-stage companies. ECI Partners was formed in 1976 and has offices in London, Manchester, and New York.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 25 of 76
Sector (Restaurants) 1 of 1
Type (Secondary Buyout) 3 of 26
Country (United Kingdom) 24 of 70
Year (2005) 1 of 1
Size (of disclosed) 5 of 35
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2004-12-31 Taylor Continental

Worcestershire, United Kingdom

Taylor Continental is a manufacturer and designer of 4-wheeled steel bins and recycling containers. Taylor Continental was founded in 1962 and is based in Worcestershire, United Kingdom.

Buy -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2005-08-13 Racal Acoustics

London, United Kingdom

Racal Acoustics Ltd., is a provider in the design and manufacture of communications headsets, handsets and audio ancillaries for military applications serving over 100 armed forces branches in 80 countries.

Buy $93M
Mergr

Product

Company

Legal