Troubled Revolution Bars takes itself off the market ‘in best interests’ of stakeholders

Revolution Bars has taken itself off the market and announced a strategic restructuring plan that it said was “in the best interests of all stakeholders”.

The company put itself on the market earlier this year in an attempt to salvage some of its operations.

Peer Nightcap made an offer for the business, but it was rejected.

London-listed Revolution Bars rejected Nightcap’s takeover offer, suggesting there were “a number of challenges to the delivery” of the Nightcap Proposal and describing the deal as “highly conditional”.

Revolutions Bars has now confirmed that it has not received any more bids. It said the end of the Formal Sale Process (FSP) would remove the company from its “offer period” altogether.

The struggling hospitality group said it would now launch its restructuring plan.

It said this would include “exiting the leases of certain loss-making sites, and proposing a rent reduction on certain other sites to enable them to return to profitability at a sustainable level.”

Revolution Bars said it believed this would enable it to return to profitability and is, therefore, “in the best interests of all stakeholders.”

The group, which owns Revolution, Revolución de Cuba and Peach Pubs, told investors earlier this year that it was “actively exploring” all options to keep the business afloat — further raising £12.5m in emergency funding.

Up to £3m of the investment was funded by former Pizza Express and Channel 4 chairman Luke Johnson, while another £3m came from the German-owned Robus Recovery Fund II and £3.5m from three existing shareholders. 

However, if the fundraising and restructuring plan is unsuccessful, Revolution Bars said its months-long fight to survive and the M&A process “will progress”.

It follows what has been a challenging few months for the hospitality business, which buckled under the pressure of customers spending less on nights out. 

The company has forecast a statutory loss before tax of approximately £15m in the year to 29 June 2024.