Zizzi owner reportedly eyeing sale of casual dining brands in 2024

The owner of the Zizzi and ASK Italian restaurant brands has reportedly begun testing buyers' appetites for a sale of the business next year.

Azzurri Group, which runs around 220 sites across the UK, has begun talks with investment bankers about a possible auction in 2024, according to Sky News.

Private equity firm Towerbrook Capital Partners took control of Azzuri's three casual dining chains, which also include grab-and-go pasta brand Coco di Mama, when it bought the group out of administration during the pandemic.

Azzuri was formed when Bridgepoint, another private equity firm, bought Zizzi and ASK Italian in 2015 in a £250m deal.

Since its sale to Towerbrook, Azzuri has continued to expand and acquired the 14-strong Belfast-based Boojum burrito chain in June with a view to opening restaurants across Britain.

A sale next year would be the latest in a string of major deals in the casual dining sector. The Restaurant Group (TRG) recently paid rival operator Big Table Group £7.5m to take its Frankie & Benny's and Chiquito brands off its hands.

TRG itself is in the process of being sold to private equity firm Apollo Global Management for £506m.

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