Pizza Express - comment

Wagamama is of course a great asset, and creating a UK restaurant group around some of its favourite foods sounds like a great idea. But we see the Pizza Express approach (Wheel Bidco) as a mere attempt to gain market information. We are not convinced that the owners of Pizza Express are willing to triple down on their still-slumbering investment when there is still a chance they have to protect themselves a little when maturity comes in 2026. Of course, the acquisition could help dilute the Pizza pains somewhat, but with the current shareholder structure of Wheel Bidco, all the funding and dilution that this would require sounds rather complicated.