Former Groucho Club owners buy Orchid's Bell and the Dragon business
The former owners of London's Groucho club have swooped for Orchid Group's Bel and the Dragon business as they look to grow their presence in the hospitality sector.
Longshot, which was set up in 1994 by directors Ollie Vigors and Joel Cadbury and previously ran London 24-hour restaurant Vingt-Quatre, raised £30m last year to acquire businesses in the leisure sector.
Bel and the Dragon has four sites in Cookham, Godalming, Reading and Windsor and represents Longshot's first acquisition since last year's fundraising and refocusing.
Cadbury said: "This acquisition of Bel and the Dragon provides us with a strong platform to build Longshot's pub and restaurant interests.
"There is, we believe, considerable opportunity in this sector and we hope to acquire further leisure businesses where we can see potential to add value."
Rufus Hall, chief executive of Orchid, said Bel and the Dragon was a great, niche business with plenty of potential but one that didn't fit with the pub group's need for nationally scaleable concepts.
Bought by Michael and Andrea Mortimer in 1997, Bel and the Dragon was acquired by Gourmet Holdings in 2004 and sold to Ultimate Leisure in June 2007. Ultimate subsequently became Premium Bars & Restaurants, before its acquisition by Orchid in December 2009.
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By Chris Druce
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