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Fortress offer for Loungers resisted by big shareholders: Two of the biggest shareholders in Loungers are rebelling against Fortress Investment Group’s proposed takeover of the café-bar group. Fortress, the US private equity firm majority-owned by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala, has made an offer of 310p a share, representing a 30% premium to Loungers’ closing price on Wednesday, valuing the company at about £338m. The Times reports that while the group’s directors have recommended that shareholders vote in favour of the deal, Mark Slater, whose firm Slater Investments owns a 10.4% stake in Loungers, said that he would reject the takeover, arguing that “it’s the wrong time to be trying to sell a very good business of this kind”. Dan Harlow, head of UK Equity at AXA Investment Managers, who also intends to vote against the deal, echoed Slater’s point, saying that management’s frustration with the share price “is no excuse to throw the towel in at what we consider could be the darkest hour”. To see the company exit public markets now was “galling”, Harlow said, arguing that the offer “appears to be another opportunistically priced bid”. It comes as Canaccord Genuity Asset Management, which holds a 1.7% share in Loungers, said it would to vote in favour of the acquisition, meaning the deal with Fortress is currently backed by 41.9% of shareholders. Loungers, which trades under the Lounge, Cosy Club and Brightside brands, was founded in 2002 by three friends – Alex Reilley, his school friend Jake Bishop and Dave Reid, a restaurateur – opening their first Lounge in 2002 in Bristol. It now operates 280 sites and is on track to finish the present financial year with 292. Fortress believes that taking Loungers private would address “the performance and liquidity challenges” of the group’s share price, which has “failed to adequately reflect Loungers’ positive business performance to date”. Shares in Loungers, which listed on London’s junior stock market in April 2019 at 200p, rose 28% to a record high of 305p in afternoon trading before finishing the day up 27.7%, or 66p, at 304p. Reilley, the chairman of Loungers, who has a 6.7% stake in the business according to Factset, said he saw Fortress “as being an ideal partner to help us take Loungers into the next phase of its growth journey” and believes the deal is a “compelling proposition for all our stakeholders”. Reilley, along with Bishop, who has a 6.3% stake, are keeping the majority of their money in the business.

Premium Club members to receive updated segmented Multi-Site Database today featuring 450 QSR operators: Premium Club members are to receive the updated Multi-Site Database today (Friday, 29 November). The next Propel Multi-Site Database provides details of 3,291 multi-site operators and is searchable in seven main segments. The database features 968 (29%) operators from the casual dining sector, 788 (24%) pub and bar operators, 556 (17%) cafe bakery operators, 450 (14%) quick service restaurant (QSR) operators, 270 (8%) hotel operators, 206 (6%) experiential leisure operators and 54 (2%) fine dining operators. The database is updated each month, and this edition includes 31 new companies. The database includes new companies in the QSR sector such as sushi roll concept SushiDog, Australian-style sushi concept Rolled and YoYo Noddle, the first Chinese cuisine franchise in the UK. Premium Club members also receive access to five additional databases: the New Openings Database, the Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database and the Who's Who of UK Hospitality. All Premium Clubs members will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to Propel paid-for events including Restaurant Marketer and Innovator (two days in January 2025) and Excellence in Pub Retail (May 2025). Operators that are Premium Club members are also able to send up to four members of staff to each of our four Multi-Club Conferences for free. Premium Club members receive their daily Propel Info newsletter 11 hours earlier than standard subscribers, at 7pm the evening before. They also receive videos of presentations at eight Propel conference events two weeks after they are held. This represents around 100 videos of industry insight over the course of the year. Premium Club members will be sent a dedicated monthly newsletter that will highlight key updates in the sector and direct subscribers to all the vital content their membership offers. Premium Club members also receive exclusive opinion columns every Friday at 5pm, which include the thoughts of Propel group editor Mark Wingett and a host of industry leaders from across the sector. A Premium Club subscription costs an annual sum of £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Premium Club for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or supplier. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.

Members get refunds after police close Groucho Club: Members of the Groucho Club will receive a partial refund after the celebrity haunt was temporarily closed while police investigate allegations of “a recent serious criminal offence”. The Times reports that despite the closure, the private members club, which is in Soho, central London, and has a long association with A-list celebrities including Kate Moss, Bono, Rita Ora, Noel Gallagher and Cara Delevingne, has hinted that services will resume shortly and promised “exciting plans for 2025”. It had its licence suspended with immediate effect by Westminster council on Tuesday after a request by the Metropolitan Police. In an email regarding the suspension and seen by The Times, members were told that “in light of the temporary closure, we will not be charging membership fees for the month of December 2024”. Isabella Warburton Adams, director of membership, wrote: “As you are aware, we have made the decision to temporarily close the club following the temporary suspension of our licence. In light of this, we will not be charging membership fees for the month of December 2024. If you pay monthly or your membership is due to renew on December 1, 2024, no payment will be debited. For memberships renewing outside of December, we will refund one month’s subscription fee.” She asked for “patience” from members who pay annually or biannually while their refunds are processed, “but rest assured you will receive your refund before Christmas”. The club has 5,000 members. Annual membership costs £1,250 for new joiners, with existing members charged less; some pay less than £1,000 and under-35s are offered a heavy discount. Warburton Adams ended the email on a positive note: “We look forward to welcoming you back to the club soon and sharing more exciting plans for 2025” – details of which were not mentioned. The club was asked for comment. Documents relating to the council’s licensing hearing, which would usually be made public, have been posted online but most of the content has been redacted. In a highly unusual step, the Met has also refused to reveal any details about the allegations beyond the fact that they relate to claims of a recent serious crime. The Groucho was established in 1985 by a group of mostly female publishers as an antidote to the stuffy gentlemen’s clubs, according to its website.

Travelodge’s robot cleaners hold key to reducing costs: Travelodge is engaging a fleet of robot vacuum cleaners to help improve efficiency as it braces for a multi-million-pound hit to operations from last month’s budget. The Times reports that the chain, which has more than 600 hotels and 47,000 bedrooms across the UK, Ireland and Spain, said the gadgets would also reduce physical demands on staff. Rising costs and lower room rates, particularly in London, have weighed on profitability, the group said. Increases to the minimum wage and national insurance from the budget are expected to add £21m to costs next year. Revenue rose slightly to £786m for the nine months to 30 September, up 0.5% from £782m in the same period last year. The increase was driven by opening five new UK hotels and a doubling of its footprint in Spain. Jo Boydell, chief executive, said: “Occupancy was slightly ahead of 2023 levels but market rates, particularly in London, were softer. We continued to invest in the business and navigating the impact of inflationary cost pressures.” Despite revenue growth, headline profit fell to £178m from £195.2m last year. Boydell said: “We see increasing growth opportunities, including acquisitions and rebrands in the UK and Spain, and further freehold purchases to enhance value. Forward booking patterns are positive, with strong demand for long-lead events.” Trading in the fourth quarter is modestly below 2023 levels so far, but recent weeks showed improvement, particularly in regional areas, the company said. Boydell said: “Our strong financial position, affordable proposition and diversified hotel network positions us well for long-term growth. The business continues to incorporate technology to enhance the guest and colleague experience and drive operational efficiency, including the rollout of robot vacuums to improve quality, reduce physical demands on colleagues and increase efficiency.”

Heineken to open first brewery in Dubai: Heineken has set out plans to build the first major commercial brewery in Dubai to capitalise on demand in a city where glitzy bars and restaurants attract millions of tourists each year. Sirocco, a joint venture between the Dutch brewer and the Dubai state-linked Maritime and Mercantile International, has secured the necessary permits and licences for the project and will start construction before the end of next year. The brewery is set to be operational by the end of 2027 and will produce popular beer brands including Heineken, Kingfisher, Amstel and Birra Moretti in the emirate, which first allowed the sale and consumption of alcohol about 20 years ago.

Lord Bilimoria steps down as Cobra chairman: Lord Bilimoria is to step down as chairman of Cobra having paid almost everything back to former creditors of the beer company. The crossbench peer founded Cobra in 1989 only for the business to collapse in 2009, leaving 340 creditors out of pocket to the tune of more than £70m. Bilimoria then teamed up with Molson Coors, the American brewer behind Blue Moon, Carling and Doom Bar, to rescue Cobra via a controversial pre-pack administration. The peer emerged with a 49.9% stake and became chairman after forming a joint venture with Molson Coors, which was set up to acquire the business from the administrators. The joint venture was established for ten years initially, but then extended in May 2019. The former CBI president pledged to repay all creditors from his share of subsequent dividend payments. In 2019, he said he was doing his utmost to honour that pledge and would do so “for as long as it takes”, although some investors who took out insurance against the eventuality of the brewer going bust were excluded. The businessman has now paid back 99% of the £72m the business owed to creditors, according to CityAM. Billimoria said that Cobra’s robust profits over the past 15 years had allowed him to “settle the creditors and eventually, now at the exit, also be able to look after special people, including my former shareholders”. He added that the payback to creditors “leaves Cobra Beer with a superb legacy”. Molson Coors, said: “We’re excited to take full ownership of the brand and look forward to continuing to work with Lord Bilimoria to champion the brand and the wider beer and hospitality industry.”