Various Eateries raises £25m in AIM listing

Various Eateries has confirmed it has raised £25m by way of a placing of 34,246,576 new Ordinary Shares with institutional and other investors at a price of 73p per Ordinary Share, during its first day of trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.

Various Eateries said its market capitalisation at the Placing Price on admission will be £65m.

The restaurant group said the net proceeds will principally be used to advance its plans to roll out its Coppa Club and Tavolino brands and to fund future activities, “possibly including acquisitions”.

Hugh Osmond, founder of Various Eateries, said that launching the flotation into the “teeth of the worst crisis ever faced by the hospitality industry” was an “incredible achievement”.

“Adversity is the backdrop to the creation of many of the greatest ventures, not just in business but in life. I helped to build up PizzaExpress out of the UK recession of the early 1990s; we will build up Various Eateries out of the devastation caused by this current crisis.”

He added: I believe we have one of the best and most experienced teams ever put together in this industry. Between us we have run thousands of restaurants, pubs, clubs and hotels, and built some of the UK’s largest and most successful hospitality businesses over more than 27 years. We have seen good times and we have seen bad.

“We will take new sites, build new venues, employ new people and create new places for people to go, on the high street and in local communities. Our industry creates entry level jobs for people just out of school or university: the only qualifications required are to be able to work hard and to be a nice person.”

He concluded: “To many, this crisis is an existential threat; but it is also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a new, major leisure business, based on how people want to live now.That is why we are floating Various Eateries today and that is what we are raising money to try to achieve.”