Gaucho Grill Restaurants today confirmed that it is planning a £100m return to the London stock market– a year after it was acquired by private equity firm Phoenix Equity Partners.

The Argentinean-style steakhouse chain, which has 10 restaurants in the UK and one in the Netherlands, has hired financial advisers Hawkpoint to handle the Initial Public Offering, with Collins Stewart and Altium Capital as joint underwriters and brokers.

Zeev Godik, chief executive officer and founder of Gaucho, said: “Over the past five years we have transformed the business creating a successful single brand, offering a high-quality dining experience. 

“During this time, we have delivered impressive growth in sales and profits and now have a clearly defined strategy to continue to deliver growth.

"A flotation will help us to raise our profile, as well as facilitate the recruitment and retention of management and key employees,” he added.

Gaucho plans to open three restaurants during 2008, including one at the O2 site (formerly the Millennium Dome) which is expected to open in February.  The management team anticipates the potential for 40 new restaurants in total.

The group was taken private by Godik in 2002 after a period of poor trading.

In 2005, Barclays led a £23.5m buyout before last year’s Phoenix Equity Partners secondary buyout deal, led by Godik and worth £55m.

Gaucho Grill set to return to the stock market >>

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By Daniel Thomas

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