Nando's in £30m bid for Clapham House

Peri-Peri chicken chain Nando's has served up a £30.4 million bid to buy the group behind the Gourmet Burger Kitchen and Real Greek restaurants.

Nando's yesterday agreed a recommended cash offer worth 74p-a-share for Clapham House Group as it seeks to gain a further foothold in the UK casual dining market.

The chicken chain, which already owns a 27 per cent stake in Clapham House through its Capricorn investment vehicle, has 234 restaurants and employs some 6,500 staff in the UK and Ireland.

It will add 67 UK and international Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK) restaurants and six Real Greeks if the deal gets the go-ahead from shareholders. North of the Border, the group has a sole GBK in Edinburgh.

Clapham House, which revealed in July it was in talks with a bidder, said it faced "uncertainty" because of January's VAT hike and the worrying consumer outlook.

The company - headed by chairman and former Pizza Express boss David Page and chief executive Paul Campbell - listed in November 2003 with the aim of buying up brands. It acquired traditional Greek cooking chain The Real Greek in December 2003 and GBK in November 2004.

It is thought Clapham House hoped for a "white knight" rival bidder to emerge, but efforts were reportedly blocked by Nando's existing 27 per cent stake.

Clapham House has attracted praise for the success of its GBK operation in recent years, although the group as a whole has had a tough recession.

Its takeover of the Tootsie's business proved ill-fated, with the firm forced to place it into administration last year.

Clapham House tapped shareholders for cash in May to fund expansion, but said yesterday that further growth in excess of the current opening plan was governed by the availability of funding.

Nando's launched in South Africa in 1987 by friends Robert Brozin and Fernando Duarte and opened its first UK restaurant in 1992 in Ealing, west London. The group has restaurants in some 30 countries.