Sky News reports that LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, which has owned a majority share in D&D since 2013, has asked corporate financiers at Interpath Advisory to kick off talks with potential buyers for the group.
It comes after exclusive talks between D&D and Montecito Equity Partners, which took place late last year, failed to result in a deal.
D&D, which operates more than 40 restaurants worldwide, principally in London, has reportedly seen a resurgence in sales since the hospitality sector was gripped by fears of a renewed crisis over the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
A D&D spokesperson declined to comment on the prospective sale process, but said current trading across its sites 'is very strong'.
D&D London was originally founded by restaurateur Sir Terence Conran as Conran Restaurants, and changed its name in 2006 current chairman Des Gunewardena and deputy chairman David Loewi took a controlling stake.
The group owns prominent London restaurants including Bluebird in Chelsea, Coq d’Argent in the heart of the City, and Skylon on the South Bank.
Most recently it launched alpine-inspired restaurant Haugen in Stratford (pictured).
