Ramen Chain Up For Sale

Majority owner Lion Capital is trying to sell Pan-Asian ramen restaurant chain Wagamama for up to £250m, The Sunday Times reported on 1 August. Lion Capital, a private equity group, bought 88% of Wagamama for £102m in 2005. Wagamama grew quickly after opening in 1992, and now has 66 outlets and 2,300 staff in the UK, and 39 branches overseas. Wagamama’s sales for the year to April 2009 rose 13% to £101m. Lion Capital had proposed floating Wagamama on the stock market in 2007, before the credit crisis.