Celeb chef Ramsay ponders stock exchange float

GORDON RAMSAY would consider floating his restaurant company on the stock exchange, the celebrity chef has told a new guide book.

The move could fund the global launch of a chain of Maze restaurants, he said.

His company is already set to open restaurants in New York and Los Angeles.

Asked whether he would consider floating Gordon Ramsay Holdings on the stock exchange, Ramsay told the 2006 issue of the Square Meal Restaurant Guide: “Yes, we’d be very stupid not to think about it.

“The level of interest we got on the back of publishing our accounts last year (2004) was phenomenal, so of course I’m interested in the idea of floating.”

He said a listing could fund a company expansion.

“I think there’s real potential with the Maze deformalised eating concept, for example, to open a network of restaurants - a chain of “baby Mazes” - right across the world. And we’d need heavyweight financial backing to project us to a global brand in that way.”

Ramsay said flotation was not on the cards in the near future.

“I would always keep a majority share of the business, so there’d be no question of the quality or individuality of the restaurant suffering,” he added.

Further restaurant openings in Chicago, Singapore, Shanghai and possibly a second in New York are likely in 2007, he said.