PizzaExpress has put its UK business up for sale and warned of 1,100 job cuts as it takes more drastic action to stave off collapse as the coronavirus crisis deepens for the casual dining sector.
The 55-year-old Italian pizza chain will close 67 restaurants 15 per cent of its UK estate and offload its Chinese business as part of a sweeping restructuring deal agreed with Hony Capital, the Chinese private equity firm that owns the group.
Hony, which bought PizzaExpress in a debt-fuelled 900m deal in 2014, has agreed to take the Chinese arm of the business, leaving PizzaExpresss UK and international sites, as well as the brand, in the control of its senior secured creditors unless a buyer is found.
The arrangement, which will also see 1…
Read the full article at: https://www.ft.com/content/dfbe31b2-257d-4d35-aed6-cee19387e692