The Restaurant Group buys O2’s S&M Café
The Restaurant Group (TRG) has acquired the former Smash Foods-operated S&M Café at the O2 in Greenwich, London.
The Frankie & Benny’s and Garfunkel’s operator bought the leasehold interest on the 200-cover site for an undisclosed sum. The group now intends to relaunch the restaurant as Armadillo, its second restaurant under the brand.
The sale comes six months after Christie & Co were first instructed to sell the six-strong S&M Café group, that specialised in sausage and mash dishes.
The agency since sold the leasehold interest of the Leadenhall Market site to Tortilla, the Mexican fast-casual dining chain in August, and has agreed deals in the four remaining sites that made the S&M chain.
Simon Chaplin, director at Christie & Co, said: “The S&M package and the non-core assets we have been marketing on behalf of Paramount Restaurants have both generated significant levels of interest from established and up-and-coming operators who are actively pursuing opportunities across the sector.
“The sale of the O2 site to TRG and the Leadenhall Market unit to Tortilla demonstrates that there continues to be a clear willingness to buy realistically-priced, well-presented businesses in good trading locations.”
