Gaucho Grill has been bought by private equity company Phoenix Equity Partners in a £55m secondary buyout led by the company's founder.

Founder and chief executive Zeev Godik, who led the buyout from Barclays Private Equity, said the group aimed to expand with "quality rather than quantity" in mind. "You will not see a Gaucho on every street corner as a result of this deal," said Godik. "We will be cautious in our expansion."

The South American chain has nine restaurants: seven in London, one in Manchester and one in Amsterdam. Godik said the company had two new London sites in the pipeline for the start of next year and would be keen to expand throughout the UK into larger cities.