The owner of Wagamama, Frankie and Benny's and Chiquito has revealed plans to double the sites of a Mexican-style restaurant chain after a £7m takeover deal was announced.
Barburrito, which was founded in Manchester in 2005, has been snapped up by The Restaurant Group.
It currently operates 16 sites in Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Sheffield, Manchester and Nottingham.
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The Restaurant Group;s brands also include Brunning & Price, Coast to Coast and Firejacks.
For its most recent financial year, to September 26, 2021, Barburrito achieved a turnover of £11.1m and a pre-tax profit of £1.7m.
The Restaurant Group said its profit for that period "benefitted from significant temporary government support".
The buyer added that the 16 Barburrito sites are expected to contribute pre-tax profits of about £800,000 to the group over the next 12 months.
The Restaurant Group said: "The Barburrito proposition is well aligned with key consumer trends including healthy eating, convenience, customisable cuisine and offers high quality products at attractive prices with an average spend per customer of c.£10.
"The strength and established nature of the proposition and its alignment to these key consumer trends has resulted in an impressive trading performance.
"Barburrito’s strong current trading gives us confidence in its ability to align with and extend TRG’s track record of market out performance.
"The sites have historically generated strong returns on invested capital in excess of 30% and TRG believes there is significant scope to further develop and expand the brand, particularly in the south of England, where there is limited presence.
"The initial expansion plan would be to double the existing state over the next four years."
