Busaba bought out of administration in pre-pack deal

Thai restaurant chain Busaba has been sold in a pre-pack deal after entering administration on 16 July.

Upon appointment, administrator Leonard Curtis secured the pre-pack sale to Seaco Investments, which is helmed by finance professional, Ronald Seacombe.

The transaction means that around 240 jobs have been saved at the restaurant chain.

Prior to the pre-pack, Busaba Eathai traded as a modern Thai restaurant from six London and one Essex site, and recently celebrated its 25th anniversary.

The administrator said that following an “extremely challenging trading period”, the chain was “at risk of closure if a sale via administration could not be secured”.

Joint administrator Neil Bennett said: “Busaba has experienced tough trading conditions over the past few years, in line with the hospitality industry in general, including the negative consequences of the cost-of-living crisis, inflation and a substantial increase in utilities costs.

“The pre-pack sale has allowed us to transfer the business smoothly and has saved a long-standing London Thai restaurant along with hundreds of jobs.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Thai restaurant group entered administration last week after filing a notice to intention to appoint administrators in June.

The move comes after Busaba’s Bloomsbury restaurant closed in April when its lease came to an end, and its site in Kingston upon Thames also closed in the last few months.

Busaba was founded by Alan Yau, the restaurateur behind the Wagamama and Hakkasan groups, in London in 1999.

The chain, once hailed as a casual dining pioneer, began expanding outside of the capital in 2016, opening sites in Liverpool, Manchester, St Albans and a restaurant under franchise in Dubai, but they all closed within three years.

The group underwent a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) in September 2020 when it had 13 London locations, six of which are still trading.

Busaba made a second push for regional expansion over the last few years with openings in Cardiff and Oxford, however both closed in 2023. The group said last year that it would focus on London and the surrounding areas.