Current press releases

30 May 2006

Tragus completes refinancing following strong recent performance

Tragus Limited ("Tragus"), one of the leading casual dining groups in the UK, which was acquired by Legal & General Ventures ("LGV") in January 2005, has undertaken a refinancing with a new £138m facility led by Barclays. The refinancing follows a period of solid cash generation, investment in new sites and strong trading performance of the underlying business. The company was advised on the refinancing by Hawkpoint.

The refinancing has resulted in a lower overall cost of debt to the Tragus Group and has refreshed and increased the capex facility for new sites to £20 million.

Tragus recently published strong sales figures, with like-for-like sales up by 8.9% for the six-week Christmas period, to 8th January 2006. The Group´s restaurants continue to trade well, with new openings in Liverpool, Birmingham Mailbox, St Paul´s, London and Glasgow.

Graham Turner, CEO of Tragus, said: "We are delighted with the performance of our restaurants across the UK and optimistic about the opportunities that lie ahead. This refinancing demonstrates the strong performance of Tragus, lowers our cost of financing and provides us with increased capital to meet the demand for our brands."