Keystone selling all Jamie's Italian in one line

The Jamie's Italian chain and other iconic eateries controlled by the collapsed Keystone Hospitality Group have been put on the market by the receivers.

All 17 leasehold venues are for sale, after the group went into receivership last month after failing to renegotiate lending arrangements with its financiers KKR and Olympus Capital.

Keystone does not own any of the real estate in which it operates.

Ferrier Hodgson's Morgan Kelly and Ryan Eagle have appointed CBRE as the lead sales advisor.

The one caveat is that the Jamie’s Italian restaurants must be sold as a group.

“The Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra and Parramatta Jamie’s Italian restaurants are some of the best performing Jamie’s Italian restaurants globally and offer a very attractive opportunity for the right partner. We will continue to work closely with the Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group with a view to identifying a new partner for their business in Australia,” Mr Kelly said. “This may be part of a whole of enterprise sale or as a separate portfolio.”

Short-listed parties will be invited to commence due diligence via a commercial-in-confidence data room before submitting formal offers. 

“Formal bids are expected to be submitted and assessed in September 2016, with the aim of reaching in-principle agreement with a buyer or buyers in late September 2016.”

Kelly is hopeful that sales will be finalised be for the commencement of summer trade.

The Australian reported the failed restaurant operator had been due to repay its international lenders $25 million on the eve of its administration.

But the company, which was until recently run by Southern Cross Austereo boss Grant Blackley, was instead yesterday pushed into receivership by its lenders, American private equity giant KKR and Singapore-based private equity outfit Olympus, which it owed almost $80 million.

Accounts show the company, which is now run by investment banker and shareholder Richard Facioni, lost $20 million last financial year after turning over $120 million.

The Keystone accounts show Mr Facioni and fellow directors Warren Duncan and Robert Webster had agreed with the private equity giants to restructure the business, including raising an immediate $5 million in fresh equity from existing shareholders and selling assets that included Bungalow 8, Cargo Bar, Kingsleys and Jamie’s Italian chain.

The AFR reported 60 creditors were present at the first creditors meeting. 

Speaking publicly for the first time, the directors revealed to AFR Weekend they were planning an initial public offering for the group to raise equity and pay back the secured debt of about $78 million. They and other shareholders also injected $5 million of their own money into the business late last year.

This leaves about $34 million of unsecured debt, which included $6 million owed to trade creditors. many of them were at the meeting on Friday.

Keystone executive chairman Richard Facioni said the individual venues were trading well, but at a corporate level, the group was carrying too much debt.

Facioni also explained that the $24 million loss in the last set of accounts which prompted their auditors PwC to raise a going concern issue was made up mostly of interest payments and expansion costs related to the purchase of Pacific Restaurant Group, which owned rights to Jamie's Italian and other venue expansions.

The group made $120 million in revenue last year.