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Venice won't counter Gondola bid for PizzaExpress

May 11, 2003

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LONDON -- Venice Bidder, an investor consortium led by Luke Johnson, the former co-owner of the 311-store PizzaExpress chain, will not attempt to top a bid for the pizza company submitted by investor group Gondola Express.

According to the BBC, Venice announced on May 9 it would not raise its £263 million (U.S. $422 million) 367 pence- (U.S. $5.88) per-share offer made in February.

That clears the way for Gondola's £278 million (U.S. $446 million), 387 pence (U.S. $6.21) a-share bid offered in April. (See related story, Bidding war for PizzaExpress finally begins)

Gondola is led by owners of Capricorn Ventures, which operates the Nando's Chicken restaurant chain.

Johnson and business partner Ian Eldridge, the former CEO of PizzaExpress, considered a counter-bid, but backed off because of PizzaExpress' current negative sales trends, the report said (See related story, PizzaExpress' sales drop 9.4% in Q1 '03).

According to a report in the Telegraph, because PizzaExpress' board of directors accepted Venice Bidder's original offer, it will receive a break fee of £2.6 million (U.S. $4.2 million) if Gondola's bid ultimately is successful. Venice also stands to collect a profit of £1.2 million (U.S. $1.9 million) on its 8.5 percent stake in PizzaExpress.