Trendy restaurants owner D&D London sold to private investors for £60m

The owner of some of London’s trendiest restaurants has been sold to private investors.

D&D London – which owns Bluebird Chelsea and Coq d’Argent – has agreed a deal with UK-based investment groups Calveton and Breal Capital, that values it at around £60m including debt.

David Loewi, 64, the chief executive and co-founder of D&D, said the takeover would ‘open the door to enhanced growth and exciting opportunities for its diverse portfolio’.

The group operates around 40 restaurants and bars, including Quaglino’s and German Gymnasium. 

It has sites across London, Bristol, Leeds and Manchester, as well as New York and Paris.

The business was originally founded by Sir Terence Conran in 1991 as Conran Restaurants.

In 2006, it was sold to Loewi and Des Gunewardena, former managers in the group, who rebranded it D&D. 

Despite its celebrity clientele – including the Made In Chelsea crew at Bluebird – the group has suffered because of the pandemic as well as the pressures of inflation. 

But D&D has said its new owners would provide a £40million balance sheet injection, which Loewi said would ensure the ‘financial backing and strategic support to accelerate growth both in the UK and internationally’.

Calveton owns burger chain Byron while Breal recently bought Vinoteca and craft beer maker Black Sheep Brewery.

D&D expects sales to hit £144million next year.