The pub and restaurant company founded by the late Tim Bacon and Jeremy Roberts, New World Trading Company (NWTC), has been bought by private equity firm, Graphite Capital, in a £50m deal. Graphite initiated the acquisition process with an off-market bid for NWTC. The principal vendors being Living Ventures, Hill Capital and LDC, which held a minority stake in the business.
This means that the newly opened Trading House in Glasgow now has a new owner. Other brands in the group, which has 14 pubs/restaurants nationally include The Botanist, The Oast House, Smugglers Cover and The Club House.
The company currently employs more than 900 people across the country from Glasgow to London and is expanding rapidly, with seven units opened in the past 15 months and more planned, including one in Glasgow.
Chief executive Chris Hill and his senior management team will continue to run the company. It was the last deal that Tim Bacon, chairman of NWTC, worked on before his death in April. He was only 52 and died after a long fight with cancer.
Living Ventures co-founder and chief executive Jeremy Roberts commented, “It is particularly bitter sweet for me to be announcing this news today. Tim was extremely proud of the business model we have created at Living Ventures and this transaction was the last deal we were working on together. It is so sad that he is not here to share it with me. But I know he would be delighted with the achievement and I know he was pleased with the home that NWTC is going to. Graphite have acquired a great business and, in Chris Hill, have secured the services of one of the brightest of our prodigies.”
Chris Hill commented, “We are delighted to be working with Graphite. Their partnership approach was attractive to us and their experience in supporting roll-outs in the pub and restaurant sector will be invaluable in the coming years. They share our vision for the future of the business and our enthusiasm for pushing out the traditional boundaries of the pub industry.
Graphite is currently an investor in Corbin & King, operator of signature London restaurants including The Wolseley, The Delaunay and Brasserie Zdel. Graphite has also invested in Hawksmoor, which operates premium steak restaurants in London and Manchester. It also invested in, and then sold, Wagamama, after taking the company to 100 units.
Graphite partner Omar Kayat commented, “NWTC has rapidly established itself as one of the most innovative and respected pub and restaurant operators in the market. The companys multi-branded approach to all day-dining combined with live entertainment in the evening has been hugely successful nationwide. We look forward to helping Chris and his team in their continued expansion across the UK.”
See the website: www.graphitecapital.com