Giraffe acquired by Boparan Restaurants Holdings
Boparan Restaurants Holdings (“BRH”) acquired the restaurant group Giraffe from current owners Tesco, who acquired the group in 2013.
Giraffe was launched as a family friendly global food concept in 1998. The group operates 57 restaurants under the Giraffe, Wondertree, Giraffe Stop and Burgers & Cocktails brands which includes 12 franchised sites.
“As we stabilise the business in the UK, we continue to focus on where we can best serve the needs of our customers, while ensuring our business remains sustainable for the long-term," Dave Lewis, Tesco Chief Executive, said.
"Giraffe is a much loved brand, and while casual dining remains an important part of the shopping trip for many of our customers, we will continue to meet these needs through our Tesco Cafés and other providers. I’d like to thank colleagues from Giraffe for all their hard work in serving our customers and we look forward to seeing it develop in the future.”
Giraffe’s Managing Director Tom Crowley said, “We are very excited about the acquisition of our business by Boparan Restaurants Holdings. This now provides us with the opportunity to really focus on developing the Giraffe business to its full potential throughout the UK and overseas.”
Ranjit Singh Boparan, CEO of BRH commented: “We invest in businesses that add value to our portfolio and Giraffe represents an appealing proposition for both customers and landlords. We believe the brand has significant potential for further growth and look forward to working with Tom and his team to develop the group.”
The acquisition forms part of BRH’s strategy to build a significant, multi-brand restaurant portfolio and will be supporting Giraffe in growing the business.
Giraffe will sit alongside BRH’s other scalable restaurant brands which are being rolled out; being Harry Ramsden’s, Fishworks and the Cinnamon Collection including the fine dining flagship Cinnamon Club. Further opportunities and acquisitions within the hospitality arena are being evaluated by BRH.
