Madisons completes buy of Richoux chain

Groupe Chez Gérard has sold its last four Richoux restaurants to Madisons Coffee for £2.7m.

Madisons now owns all six of the Richoux restaurants that the London-based chain bought two years ago from Michael da Costa, chairman of the Restaurant Association, for £7.25m.

In February this year, Madisons secured its first Richoux deal when it bought two of the London restaurants for £660,000.

The sale of the remaining four restaurants, which had a turnover of £5m in the year ended 26 June 1999, means that Groupe Chez Gérard sold the six restaurants for £3.36m in total - £3.89m less than it paid for them.

When it bought Richoux in 1998, it planned to expand the chain and wanted to open four Richoux café-restaurants in the short term.

But it was forced to put its plans on hold last year when it announced a drop in profits from the chain.

Da Costa's three-year contract on the board of Groupe Chez Gérard was then terminated (Caterer, 5 August 1999, page 10).

Groupe Chez Gérard has also announced it has bought three sites which it will convert into Livebait and Chez Gérard restaurants.

The Livebaits, both former Café Meds, will be in Fulham and Wandsworth, south London, and the Chez Gérard, a former office block, will be in Cambridge.

The Fulham restaurant will have 80 seats, and the one in Wandsworth 100. Both will open before Christmas and will take the number of Livebait restaurants to eight by the end of the year.

The Cambridge Chez Gérard will seat 90 and is due to open early next year.

by Louise Bozec