Yo! Sushi in ₤51m sale talks

Source/Contact: Caterer Search, 05/03/2008

Japanese restaurant chain Yo! Sushi is reportedly in ₤51m sale talks with an investment vehicle.  Quilvest – a company originally founded to manage the financial interests for the heirs of Otto Peter Bemberg, the Argentine beer baron – has lodged a final-round offer for ther group.  Entrepreneur Simon Woodroffe founded the Yo! Sushi chain in 1997, with a ₤150,000 investment.  In 2003, he sold a 78% stake to venture capital firm Primary Capital for ₤6.5m as part of a management buyout led by current chief executive Robin Rowland.  In the year to 25 November 2007, Yo! Sushi – which has 30 restaurants in the UK and 10 overseas – reported a 42% rise in post-tax profit to ₤4.3m with like-for-like sales up 6%.