The founders of Dishoom, the restaurant chain, have diluted their holdings for the first time after selling equity to investment firm L Catterton, backed by luxury goods chain LVMH.
Dishoom, which is opening a Glasgow outlet at the end of this month on the back of its successful Edinburgh restaurant, has received an undisclosed sum from L Catterton and the family office of LVMH boss, Bernard Arnault.
The deal values Dishoom at about £300 million and its co-founders will remain in charge of the day-to-day management alongside long-serving Brian Trollip, who became chief executive last year.
The founders have been working with Goldman Sachs on their investment options and the new funding will enable the company to invest in America next year.
Cousins Shamil Thakrar and Kavi Thakrar established Dishoom as a restaurant in Covent Garden in 2010, with the brothers Amar and Adarsh Radia, who both left the business in 2017, as co-founders.
Its restaurants were designed to evoke a Bombay Iranian café from the 1960s and customers form long queues to get a table.
It currently runs ten restaurants and also four cafés under the Permit Room brand, employing about 2,000 people.
Dishoom’s revenues rose by 23% to £116.8 million for the year ended 31 December, 2023, according to the most recent accounts filed at Companies House. The group’s profit before tax was up 56% to £7.4 million.
Miray Topay, a partner at L Catterton, said the team at Dishoom had created “a truly exceptional business by all measures”.
US-based L Catterton, which is 40% owned by LVMH, specialises in investing in mid-market companies, with assets under management of about $37 billion. In August 2017 it invested £15m for a 27.9% stake in Edinburgh brewer and pubs group Innis & Gunn.
LVMH owns brands such as Louis Vuitton and Scotch whisky company Glenmorangie.
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