British Restaurant Dynasty Aims For £500m Family Reunion

Prezzo remains a family affair. One of Britain’s most successful restaurant dynasties, the Kaye family, is cooking up a deal to reunite three of the country’s best-known Italian restaurant chains in a £500m deal.

The Kayes have held talks with private equity firms Advent and TPG Capital to bid for Prezzo as well as Ask and Zizzi, all of which were founded by family members. The family controls a nearly 60% stake of the Prezzo chain, which has a market value of £328m, and used to own Zizzi and Ask; those chains were sold in 2004 to Gondola Holdings, which recently sold Pizza Express to China’s Hony Capital.

If successful, the deal would create a casual-dining chain with almost 500 restaurants nationwide. Prezzo has 245 restaurants, with 200 under the core Prezzo brand and 37 under its Mexican-themed Chimichanga brand; Gondola operates 110 Ask and 130 Zizzi restaurants.

Advent and TPG reportedly are interested in using the Kaye-backed restaurants as a platform to create a larger stable of Italian concepts. Potential bidders have until Oct. 30 to make an offer for Prezzo.