Supermarket chain Tesco confirms acquisition of Giraffe for £48.6m

Supermarket chain Tesco has confirmed that it is to acquire restauant group Giraffe for £48.6m.

The deal forms part of Tesco's plans to develop the space in some of its larger stores into restaurants. The first Giraffe restaurant to open next to a Tesco store will be near London.

Russel Joffe, managing director and founder of Giraffe said, "We're very much looking forward to working with Tesco. We're passionate about great service, wonderful hospitality and serving good, healthy food at great value. This move will allow us to introduce Giraffe to a wider audience, presents great opportunities for growth and for the team to be involved in an exciting stage of our brand's development. It will be very much business as usual at Giraffe."

The first Giraffe opened in Hampstead, North London in 1998 and the group now has 48 sites nationwide, including franchised sites at Heathrow and other UK airports as well as one in Dubai.

The original founders, husband and wife team Russel and Juliette Joffe, along with Andrew Jacobs, will remain in place with Russel continuing as managing director. Private equity backers 3i and Risk Capital Partners have sold their stake in the business

Tesco has bought a 100% stake in Giraffe.