Tasty looks to raise £3.25m with new share placing: Wildwood operator Tasty, which has 57 restaurants in total, is to raise £3.25m before expenses through the issue of 75,000,000 shares at 4p each. Keith Lassman, chairman of Tasty, said: “This is an important fundraise for Tasty as it will enable us to continue our strategic plans with vigour. We are delighted with the level of investor support for the placing and we would like to thank our shareholders for their continued support.” The issue price represents a discount of 32.8%, to the closing middle market price of 5.95 pence per existing ordinary share on 11 April 2019. The company stated: “As announced on 22 November 2018, the company entered into an agreement to revise its £7.0 million term loan facility with its existing lender Barclays, which amended the company’s previous £7.0 million term loan facility. The key effects of the revised loan facility were to extend the final repayment date from July 2021 to March 2022 and to significantly reduce the quarterly repayments with effect from July 2019. Under the terms of the revised loan facility agreement, the company pays interest on the amount drawn down (of which £6.42 million was outstanding at the year-end) of between 2.5% and 4.0% over LIBOR with the interest rate payable dependent upon the ratio of the amount drawn down to adjusted Ebitda. In addition to the quarterly repayments referred to above, the company undertook to reduce the amount drawn down under the revised loan facility by an aggregate of £1.1 million on or before 30 June 2019. Of this £1.1 million, certain of the directors undertook to provide, in aggregate, £0.5 million. This new capital is to be in the form of either new subordinated loan or equity capital, or a combination of the two. Those directors propose to meet that undertaking by participating in the firm placing in the amount of, in aggregate, £700,000, on the terms and subject to the conditions set out in further detail in the circular. The net proceeds of the firm placing and the open offer are to be used to reduce the revised loan facility as described above and to support the operating cash flow of the group. The board is continuously assessing the company’s estate to identify where improvements can be made. Where sites are underperforming, turnaround strategies have been implemented and, in many instances, significant improvements in performance have been made. Where the board believes that it is in the shareholders’ interest, sites will be sold and the proceeds used to pay down debt.”

Bao to launch third London site, next month featuring karaoke room and grab-and-go hatch: London-based Taiwanese restaurant Bao is to open its third venue in the capital, in Borough Market next month. The venue will open on Monday, 6 May and differ from its sister sites in Soho and Fitzrovia by featuring a karaoke room and grab-and-go hatch. The karaoke room will be below the new restaurant and offer cocktail pitchers and beer buckets alongside fried and grilled karaoke platters with dishes such as chilli chicken wings, Xinjiang mushroom and Taiwanese sausage, Hot Dinners reports. There will also be three new bao on offer, a late-night noodle menu and more dishes inspired by late-night grills including beef meatball with fried egg and a Borough curry. The venue will also feature a Suntory Hi-Ball machine serving whisky and soda and a seasonally changing hi-ball menu providing a “quirky combination of flavours”.

Ultimate Experience secures exclusive use of new Westfield London events space: Ultimate Experience, the London seasonal venue and events company that is part of CH&Co, has been appointed to host the first events at Exhibition, the events space launching at Westfield London in Shepherd’s Bush. The grade II-listed Dimco building, originally a London Underground power station and later a bus depot, is being transformed into a purpose-built events destination offering more than 3,000 square metres of space over two levels. Ultimate Experience has secured exclusive use for its clients for the first six weeks when the venue opens in November. Ultimate Experience managing director Carly Mitchell said: “We have been looking for a new venue for a few years and nothing fitted our requirements. We believe this flexible and inspiring space is the perfect addition to our portfolio.” Exhibition London is a collaborative venture between Broadwick Venues and the team behind the Westfield shopping franchise, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. The venue is next to Westfield London with capacity up to 750 for a seated meal and 1,400 for a reception.