Pub chain buys Ha Ha's
PUBS and restaurants group Mitchells & Butlers has agreed to buy restaurant chain Ha Ha Bar & Grill for £19.5m, bulking out its food business in a drive to lift margins.
The 22 Ha Ha Bar and Grill restaurants, which served over 100,000 steaks per year and 70,000 fish fingers last year, will be converted into All Bar One sites, Browns restaurants and other M&B brands.
Ha Ha's is being sold by Bay Restaurant Group, which also own tapas restaurant chain La Tasca and pubs Slug and Lettuce.
M&B said the deal will generate an EBITDA return of 25 per cent after a capital expenditure of 8.5m.