Balls Brothers owner seeks new investor for expansion
BALLS BROTHERS part-owner Novus Leisure is on the lookout for a new investor as the bar and club operator seeks to double the size of its London business in a ambitious expansion plan.
Current owners Barclays and RBS – who seized control in a debt-for-equity swap that all but wiped out private equity house Cognetas in 2009 – have hired Rothschild to advise them on options for the business.
A source close to the deal told City A.M. that the banks, which hold both equity and debt in Novus Leisure, are open to retaining a stake in the leisure group.
Novus Leisure, which operates a range of premium bars including City hotspots Abacus, APT and The Livery, last March bought 17 of the 19 Balls Brothers bars, of which 14 are in the Square Mile.
That deal came in a record year for the group, which reported 2011 earnings of £13m on revenues that were 12 per cent higher at £106.7m. Novus, which also owns the Tiger Tiger nightclub chain, is looking at an Ebitda figure nearer £17m for 2012.
LateNightLondon.com website operator Novus Leisure currently owns 52 outlets across the UK, 85 per cent of which are in London, and is expecting to capitalise significantly on this summer’s Olympic Games.