Activities

PizzaExpress is a chain of pizza and pasta restaurants owned by Gondola Holdings PLC.

The brand, which was launched in 1965, introduced an authentic thin pizza style (based on a 180-year-old Neopolitan recipe) to a public more used to the deep pan variety.

It remained a stock market darling from its 1993 flotation until 2001/2002, when profits began to suffer from rising competition from new players, notably its current stablemates Ask and Zizzi.

The group’s share price plummeted to 245p from a 1998 high of 987p and triggered a flurry of takeover offers, many from current or former PizzaExpress directors. It was acquired by venture capital firms TDR Capital and Capricorn Ventures International (which also owns the Nando’s chicken chain) in 2003 and floated in 2005.

PizzaExpress bought or developed other pizza and pasta brands but only Kettners, the upmarket Soho restaurant, remains in the fold. The other brands (including 12 Café Pasta restaurants, a Marzano and Riviera pizza and pasta restaurant in London, four Gourmet Pizzas outlets and 45 mostly franchised PizzaExpress restaurants overseas) were sold to companies owned by TDR and Capricorn.

Timeline

• 1960s: Peter Boizot opens the first PizzaExpress in Wardour Street, London, in 1965 and a second in 1967 in Coptic Street. In 1969 the internationally-renowned Jazz Club opens in the Dean Street PizzaExpress in London. The group grows largely through franchising. 
• 1992: Boizot sells the company to former city analysts Hugh Osmond and Johnson for £15m
• 1993: PizzaExpress floats on the stock exchange in February through the reverse takeover of Star Computer Group. The deal involves PizzaExpress’ largest franchisee, David Page, who later serves as chief executive and chairman.
• 1996: Many of the franchised restaurants are bought back to give the company greater control. Following Boizot’s departure, Johnson becomes chairman and Page chief executive.
• 1997: The group’s international division is launched. Page becomes chairman and is replaced as chairman by Ian Eldridge.
• 1998: PizzaExpress buys the eight-strong Café Pasta chain in London, which was founded in 1986, and launches its own five-strong Pasta di Milano chain.  A year later, it decides to convert Pasta di Milano into PizzaExpress and Café Pasta outlets.
• 1999: PizzaExpress moves into the USA under the name San Marzano in a joint venture with Avado Brands of Georgia, which pulls the plug on the venture in 2001.
• 2000: PizzaExpress makes a £127m takeover bid for City Centre Restaurants (now The Restaurant Group) which is rejected.
• February 2002: PizzaExpress buys Soho champagne bar and pizzeria Kettners for £1.95m from Peter Boizot. It also spends £2m on four Gourmet Pizza restaurants and the Riviera pizza and pasta restaurant in London.
• 2002: Page becomes chief executive after Eldridge departs. Twigway (a partnership of Hugh Osmond, Nando’s owner Capricorn Ventures International and Sun Capital Partners) mounts a £250m offer for PizzaExpress which is abandoned in November. In December, it emerges that other approaches have been made including a management-buyout led by chief executive David Page.
• 2003:  Co-founder Luke Johnson and former chief executive Ian Eldridge make a £263m offer for PizzaExpress in February. A £278m bid from Capricorn Ventures International and TDR Capital follows in April, and is accepted in June.
• May 2005: Merrill Lynch is called in to conduct a strategic review of the companies within Altia Holdings, which include PizzaExpress, Ask and Zizzi.
• October 2005: Owners TDR and CVI announce plans to float Ask and PizzaExpress on the London Stock Exchange before the end of the year, although they intend to retain a majority stake in the businesses. The flotation will not include the non-core PizzaExpress restaurants.
• November 2005: Gondola Holdings, the holding company for PizzaExpress and Ask, floats on the London Stock Exchange. The offer price of 320p per share raises £135m and gives Gondola a market capitalisation of £431m. TDR and CVI's stake reduces from 80% to 51.4%, while employees hold a 7.2% share.

Contact

1 Union Business Park
Florence Way
Uxbridge
London
UB8 2LS

Tel: 01895 618 618

Website: http://www.pizzaexpress.com