Paramount sells 28 restaurants, raising over £7m

Paramount Restaurants, owner of the Chez Gerard and Il Bertorelli brands, has successfully sold 28 of its non-core properties, raising over £7m.​

Property agents Christie & Co were instructed in May to market a portfolio of 37 sites for the group, including 12 Brasserie Gerards, one Chez Gerard, eight Caffe Unos, three Bertorellis, four Il Bertorellis and four Livebaits.

However Paramount decided to retain nine of the sites, including four operated under the Livebait brand.

The remaining 28 properties, which were sold for over £250k each, were acquired by 12 different parties, including Tragus, Gondola Holdings, Prezzo, Giraffe, Costa Coffee, Busaba Eathai, and two private buyers.

In September Tom Aikens walked away from a deal to buy six properties from Paramount​, which he had planned to turn into casual dining venues along the lines of his Tom's Kitchen brand in Chelsea and at Somerset House.

Future for Paramount​

David Street, property director at Paramount, said the group would now concentrate on “improving and growing” its existing estate of 29 French restaurants, 11 Italian and four Livebait sites.

“We are pleased with the success and pace of the disposal programme, which highlights strong teamwork and expertise between us, Christie & Co and Wallace & Co, our solicitors for these transactions, underpinned by a clear focussed plan from initial marketing, agreeing deals through to completion,” he said.

Six of the restaurants were placed in central London, 10 inside the M25 and 12 throughout the rest of the UK.

Simon Chaplin, head of Restaurants at Christie & Co, said: “The disposal of these 28 restaurants underlines what we have been saying for the last two years, that despite the tough trading environment, buyers will quickly appear for well-located and realistically priced assets, especially those that they can quickly turnaround at minimum cost.”