According to The Sunday Times, the fast-growing hospitality company that owns a number of Albert’s Schloss beer halls and more than 30 Rudy’s pizzerias across the UK, has hired advisers at Houlihan Lokey to test the market for potential buyers.
A potential sale could be worth more than £100m, according to the paper.
Manchester-based Mission Mars was founded by Roy Ellis and Neil Macleod in 2015 and has grown into one of the UK’s hospitality success stories of the past decade. Last year its Albert’s Schloss brand made its London debut, joining its locations in Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham, with the venue named Best New Opening in Restaurant’s R200 Awards.
Mission Mars was also named Restaurant Group of the Year over 20 sites following a stellar performance in 2023, where it reported revenue growth of more than 50%.
Its latest company accounts show that turnover across the business rose from £71 million to £93 million for the year to 29 September 2024, although pre-tax profits fell from £5.3 million to £2.5 million.
The process comes seven years after the Business Growth Fund (BGF), an investment group backed by Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS, took a £10 million stake in Mission Mars.