A popular fast-food restaurant that previously revealed that it may have to close for good might still be able to stay open.
According to The Mirror, the American diner-style restaurant chain - which has 87 sites across the UK - could be saved with firms Breal Capital and Calveton who are reportedly set to acquire the UK some branches.
The firms, which jointly own the upmarket restaurants business D&D London, could announce the deal today, Monday, October 7, reported Sky News.
We are yet to know the exact outcome of the business deal, but if it was successful then many towns and cities would not have to say goodbye to the high street staple.
The deal would look to save 55 of the 87 restaurants that will have to close, so despite some TGI Fridays being able to stay open, over 1000 jobs would be lost.
The American-inspired restaurant chain is open as normal while the administration process starts.
The collapse of the London-listed hospitality business comes after plans to buy the US restaurant chain for £177 million fell through earlier this month.
It would have merged with US-based TGI Fridays Inc, to create a larger firm that would remain listed in London.
But the takeover plans were dropped after a management change which would have meant it could not collect royalties from the TGI Fridays brand.
Hostmore shares tanked by more than 90% after the news earlier in September, as shareholders took the brunt. Its shares are now worth less than 0.2 pence per share.
Its shares have now been suspended from the London Stock Exchange and the public company will be delisted and wound up.
TGI Fridays’ biggest market is in the US where there are 128 restaurants, including franchised sites, and it operates more than 270 in countries around the world.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “TGI Fridays bounded onto the UK restaurant scene in the mid-eighties with its Americana-inspired decor and menus satiating the appetite for US cuisine dining.
“Even though the chain had focused on reducing costs and significantly reduced losses from unprofitable stores, it wasn’t enough to keep the business afloat.
“Given the brand recognition, its continued operation in more than 50 other countries and the level of loyal custom, it’s unlikely to disappear from the UK scene completely,” Ms Streeter added.
She suggested that a new owner could “significantly reduce the number of outlets across the UK, and focus on its more successful restaurants such as in London’s Leicester Square”.
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