Individual Restaurants portfolio sold in £40m deal

The Individual Restaurants estate, including Piccolino (pictured), the Restaurant Bar & Grill, Opera Grill and Bank brands, has been sold in a transaction worth more than £40m.

The group has been sold to Ice Acquisitions, controlled by Sir Malcolm Walker, the founder of supermarket chain Iceland, and Tarsem Dhaliwal, Iceland's group managing director, who previously backed the business.

The deal secures the future of 28 restaurants, protecting the jobs of 1,300 employees. Of these, 13 of the restaurants are open for collection and delivery and will fully open for dining on 2 December along with the other 15 restaurants, subject to any government or local restrictions.

Dhaliwal said: "Like other hospitality businesses throughout the UK, these restaurants have been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. I am delighted that we have been able to secure a solution that safeguards 1,300 jobs in these excellent restaurants, and provides an opportunity for these great eating-out brands to flourish again when the current pandemic is over."

The deal is not understood to include the group's Gino D'Acampo-branded sites.