Speaking during an investment call, executive chairman of the Wildwood and Dim T operator David Page said the group would only target profitable businesses rather than distressed ones.
He said the business was keen to complete at least one acquisition in the next few months, possibly, two.
“In the last year, we have looked at many businesses,” Page said.
“We have probably signed over 10 NDAs to look at these businesses in more detail, and we are looking to buy between four or six of these businesses over the next three years.
“We have got a top four at the moment, which we are engaging with.”
Targets are expected to be scalable brands with two to 15 sites and price points of between £10 and £30 per head .Businesses under consideration include breakfast, lunch, and dinner operators. Page said Bow Street had also looked at ‘four or five’ businesses from Far East Asia and pizza operators
“We think that’s much more defensive than £100 a head in the UK at the moment, given the economy,” Page continued.
“We’ve got to be able to open 40, 50, 60 around the UK minimum. We’ve got to work with the existing management team, and we’ve got to work with them for a couple of years so that we can help them, they can build their knowledge, and we can maybe add some people from our past to help them as well.”
Deals taking longer than expected
Page said that acquisition deals were taking longer than expected because the target businesses were profitable and owners were not under pressure to sell.
“We are buying profit effectively, and then we are growing the businesses. So these businesses do not have to sell.
“They are making money, but they are reaching a stage, for whatever reason internally, that they need to move on and get some advice, maybe raise some money or maybe a combination of a number of things.
“So we are going to buy the profit, and essentially, like we have done before, we are going to work with the management over two or three years. They will receive a payout dependent on the profit that they contribute to the company.
“We feel we can help them, and then we can invest in their business and help them grow.”
Page’s comments come after Bow Street Group reported improving like-for-like sales for the first half of the year, up 5.6%.