Japan's Toridoll to buy Fulham Shore in £93.4m deal

Japan’s Toridoll Holdings said on Wednesday that it has agreed to buy Franco Manco and The Real Greek owner Fulham Shore in a £93.4m deal.

Great Sea Kitchens, a newly-incorporated company established on behalf of Toridoll, will pay 14.15p for each Fulham Shore share. This represents a premium of around 34.8% to the closing Fulham share price on Tuesday.

David Page, executive chairman of Fulham Shore, said: "Whilst we remain excited about the prospects for the business on a standalone basis, we have been in discussions with both Toridoll and Capdesia and received a proposal that we believe is compelling for all of our stakeholders.

We believe Toridoll and Capdesia's experience in successfully building restaurant businesses and their long-term vision for Fulham Shore, will enable Fulham Shore to fulfil its long-term potential."

Capdesia is a London and Brussels-based private equity firm that focuses exclusively on the restaurant space.

News of the deal came alongside a trading update from Fulham Shore, in which the company said that during the second half of FY23, both its Franco Manca and Real Greek businesses delivered "creditable" underlying performances despite industrial action, social disruption, and the cost-of-living crisis.

"The trading momentum and absence of Covid closure periods compared to the last two financial years as well as new store expansion has driven a significant increase in revenue to circa £100m for FY23, which represents a new record high for the group," it said.

At 0815 BST, the shares were up 38% at 14.50p.

Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, said: "One might argue that the 14.15p takeout price for Fulham Shore doesn’t fully price in its potential. Eighteen months ago, it was trading close to 20p a share, after all. But in an economically uncertain environment, the price on the table might seem reasonable given the circumstances and possibly the best deal that could emerge for some time."