The locations are yet to be revealed, but the better-burger brand says the deal will broaden its footprint in London while also helping it reach new customers across the Midlands, the South East and East Anglia.
The acquisitions will take the 39-strong Honest Burgers estate past the 50-site mark and will roughly halve GBK’s size, leaving it with around a dozen restaurants.
Launched in 2001, GBK is widely considered the first better-burger brand in the UK and at its peak operated around 60 restaurants.
It is now part of Boparan Restaurant Group (BRG), which also owns Slim Chickens and Ed’s Easy Diner.
The deal has been supported by new funding from existing shareholders alongside a senior debt package provided by OakNorth.
The investment will also be used to develop a new state-of-the-art central prep kitchen, where Honest prepares all of its food freshly from scratch each day.
All of the newly acquired sites will be converted into Honest Burgers restaurants rather than the company’s recently launched QSR concept, Smash + Grab.
“Growing our footprint is a key priority for the brand, and the new investment and refinancing is a vote of confidence in the business following a fantastic commercial performance last financial year,” said Honest Burgers CEO Matt Brandon.
“We are delighted to add brand-new locations to our group and welcome a whole new team into Honest to share our passion for great quality burgers, fantastic hospitality and exceptional value for our customers.”
Martin Owen, group people director at BRG, added: “This is a strategic opportunity for Gourmet Burger Kitchen, which allows us to focus on our core growth area of delivery.
“Selecting who we sold the sites to was a vital part of this process. We needed to ensure they had the right values and would do the right thing by our amazing colleagues. We thank our colleagues for their exceptional commitment and contribution to the brand.”
Co-founded by friends Tom Barton and Philip Eeles in Brighton in 2009, Honest Burgers started out cooking British burgers at a local food festival.