Mowgli Street Food, the restaurant chain founded by celebrity chef Nisha Katona, has secured a new private equity backer.
TriSpan has invested in the Liverpool-headquartered company in a deal which provides an exit for Foresight Group.
The new backer already has investments in the likes of Pho and sk:n and has offices in London and New York.
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Foresight first invested in Mowgli 2017 when there were two sites in Liverpool and one in Manchester. Since then it has grown to a network of 15 sites across the UK and create 500 jobs.
Nisha Katona, who serves as the company's chief executive, said: "It has been a pleasure working alongside Foresight and experiencing in them, an investment house that understood supported and enabled the vision that I had for Mowgli.
"The years we spent together around a board table were very enjoyable."
Claire Alvarez, partner at Foresight Group, added: "We are extremely proud of our partnership with Mowgli, which saw the business become a sustainable and leading brand within its industry, whilst also generating outstanding returns for our investors – including several local authority pension funds.
"The board worked collegiately, delivering growth through some extremely challenging market conditions."
Mowgli chair, Dame Karen Jones, said: "The last five years working with Foresight, together with Nisha and the talented Mowgli team, have been collaborative, highly productive - and enjoyable.
"The result is a first class hospitality business, loved by its people and its customers, with an exciting growth runway. Thank you, Foresight, for being a great partner on the journey."
Mowgli and its shareholders were advised by PwC Lead Advisory and CMS, while TriSpan was advised by Mayer Brown and PwC Debt & Capital Advisory.
In its most recently available financial accounts, Mowgli Street Food posted a turnover of £8.5m for the 12 months to July 31, 2021, and pre-tax losses of £3.2m.
In its last year before the Covid-19 pandemic, the company posted a turnover of £11.9m and pre-tax losses of £1.2m.
The company has venues in Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Oxford, Nottingham, Sheffield, Cardiff, Leicester, Leeds, Cheshire, Cheltenham, London, Glasgow, Preston, Bristol, Edinburgh and Brighton.
In May 2022 the business opened its new headquarters in Liverpool in the same building its founder began her legal career.
Nisha Katona founded Mowgli in Liverpool in 2014 and was later awarded an MBE for her services to the food industry in 2019.
She has also become a well-known food writer and TV chef, appearing regularly on popular shows such as This Morning and MasterChef.
Speaking exclusively to BusinessLive in July 2022, Nisha Katona revealed her expansion plans for the fast-growing restaurant chain as the search for a major new investor started.
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