UK restaurant owner bids for tapas

The owner of the Bella Italia and Cafe Rouge chains hit back today in the bidding war for Spanish tapas restaurant business La Tasca.

The owner of the Bella Italia and Café Rouge chains hit back today in the bidding war for Spanish tapas restaurant business La Tasca.

Tragus increased its offer to 192p a share, valuing the group at £99.7m (€146.8m), in an attempt to trump property entrepreneur Robert Tchenguiz.

Mr Tchenguiz yesterday tabled a hostile bid worth £98.6m (€145.2m) through his investment firm R20 and backed by Icelandic investment bank Kaupthing.

Tragus, which was acquired by the private equity group Blackstone in December, wants to buy the La Tasca chain to add to its portfolio of mid-market restaurants. It said the Spanish themed venues would tie-in with its French and Italian themed restaurants.

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