Ten years after acquiring Pret A Manger in a deal worth £350m, private equity house Bridgepoint is selling it for more than four times its original investment and providing City firms with big mandates.
Luxembourg-headquartered JAB Holding Company, an investment firm owned by Germany’s Reimann family, is to buy the food chain for £1.5bn.
JAB instructed Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer on the deal, which fielded a team led by Christopher Mort, alongside fellow corporate partner Patrick Ko and antitrust partner Alex Potter.
On the other side of the table, Travers Smith’s 20-year-old relationship with Bridgepoint proved once again crucial for the firm, winning private equity partner Ian Shawyer and practice head Paul Dolman a mandate on a deal well above its typical mid-market territory.
Speaking to Legal Business, Dolman was clear: ‘While we have no intention to move away from our loyal mid-market clients, our strategy is to turn the dial and do higher-value deals.’
Travers had already advised Bridgepoint when it acquired Pret from its founders and McDonald’s in 2008. In the same year, well-regarded private equity hand Charles Barter left the firm to become Bridgepoint’s first general counsel, which helped cement the relationship.
In the following decade, Pret’s footprint and value would grow massively. Under Bridgepoint’s ownership the company, founded in London in 1986, expanded its presence in the UK and US, and launched in France, China, Dubai and Singapore, quadrupling its revenues to £879m.
The next step for Pret is almost certainly more international growth. JAB bought a similar business in the US last year, Panera Bread, and owns a number of international food and coffee retail brands.
The food industry remains a big part of Bridgepoint’s portfolio too, as Travers partners know well. Shawyer led the team advising on the acquisition of Burger King UK franchises last year, and sat alongside fellow private equity partner Edmund Reed as it bought ASK Italian and Zizzi restaurants from Cinven three years ago.