Lotto's counter-bid stalls Signature deal

Giuliano Lotto, owner of A-Z Restaurants, could be ready to scupper the management buyout deal to take Signature Restaurants private.

A management buyout deal of £24.7m for Signature Restaurants, which owns the Belgo mussels-and-chips chain, is already being considered by shareholders. But Lotto is looking at a counter-bid, understood to be close to £30m, for the group of restaurants.

Lotto has been taking advice over the deal and is believed to have the backing of Park Place Capital, an investment group which already has a 29.6% stake in Signature Restaurants.

The management buyout team consists of chairman Luke Johnson, chief executive Andrew Bassadone and Nicholas Fiddler, the finance director, who have formed a company called Pinco. The bid was put forward following a set of financial results that saw pre-tax profits drop by 27.5% to £3.1m.

A-Z Restaurants owns Aubergine and L'Oranger and is understood to be particularly interested in Signature's top-end London restaurants, Le Caprice, the Ivy and J Sheekey.

A successful bid from Lotto could leave Signature's Belgo and Strada chains up for sale once again by A-Z.

A spokeswoman for A-Z Restaurants said that Lotto had a week to put down a firm bid. "He has already had a good look at the sites," she said.

by Christina Golding