Hartford swoops for Jamies Bars
Bar and restaurant group Hartford has snapped up the troubled wine bar business Jamies in a £7.5m deal.
The deal, subject to shareholder approval, will add 17 bars to the Hartford portfolio.
The all-paper deal, which values Jamies at 67.5p a share is expected to befollowed by other acquisitions.
The price is at a 50 per cent premium and values Jamies at £4.8m excluding debt of £2.7m.
The acquisition is a major step in the company's transition away from a business focused purely on restaurants.
The group has disposed of various underperforming outlets - restaurant Idaho in Highgate, north London, was sold to the Giardino group in May for £50,000.
Hartford has exchanged contracts on three of a further four restaurants it put up for sale.
The King's Head in Loughton, Essex, and Montana and the Congress Club, both in London, are expected to be sold within the next two months.
The company said trading at its Pharmacy, Dakota and Canyon eateries had continued to be mixed since last September, with sales down by 15 per cent. The company expects to make savings of almost £1m from the Jamies deal.
Colin Lewan will join the business as finance director as will Eloisa Brown, as operations director of the City bars division.
Jamies chairman Alan Jackson and joint managing directors David Colbeck and Roger Preece, will all leave the group following the sale.
