Naked Chef to bid for Little Chef restaurants
LONDON - Jamie Oliver's TV production company is considering making a bid of £20m to take over the failing motorway restaurant chain, Little Chef.
Oliver is considering filming a reality TV show based on him turning the business around by revamping the menu of the struggling but iconic chain.
Private equity firm RCapital, which stepped in to save the chain when it almost went bankrupt in January, said that it had been approached by Oliver's production company Fresh One Productions.
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A spokesman confirmed that Fresh One had "held talks about buying the business".
If the bid is successful, the celebrity chef plans to introduce healthier food and fresher ingredients in all 192 of Little Chef's roadside cafes.
The cafes would be redesigned but the famous logo of a character in a chef's hat is expected to remain. The chef himself has been redesigned over the years with a slimmer version being introduced.
This follows Gordon Ramsey's offer last month to rescue the chain on his Channel 4 series 'Kitchen Nightmares'.
The Benetton family were also said to be interested buyers and were prepared to pay £20m to rename the properties under their Autogrill masterbrand, but RCapital said the brand name and logo were a non-negotiable part of the deal.
Little Chef was founded in 1958 as an 11-seater snack bar in Reading, and has had a series of owners since that time including Granada, private-equity firm Permira and Travelodge.
Little Chef: bid by Oliver
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