Deal Spotlight: Dishoom's £300m Valuation & New Backing from LVMH-Linked Firm🍛

Turnover up from £94.9m (2022) to £116.8m (2023)

Pre-tax profit rose from £4.7m to £7.4m

Dividend payout jumped from £3.7m to £9.8m

Private equity interest in hospitality: the valuation and deal investors see premium, experience-led dining as resilient, even in a challenging economy.

International ambitions: Breaking into the US market is notoriously difficult for UK hospitality brands. The partnership with a firm connected to LVMH signals an intention to elevate Dishoom into a global lifestyle brand, not just a restaurant chain.

Scaling with culture intact: L Catterton’s backing could help replicate Dishoom’s “queue-worthy” appeal internationally, but it raises the challenge of maintaining brand authenticity at scale.

Drafting and negotiating investment agreements, shareholder rights, governance changes, and exit strategies.

Ensuring alignment between investors’ ROI expectations and founders’ brand vision.

US market involves franchise or wholly-owned model decisions, local regulatory compliance, and supply chain restructuring.

Brand protection via trademarks and trade dress registration in new jurisdictions.

Securing prime US locations requires careful negotiation of long-term commercial leases, often with turnkey fit-out provisions.

Scaling into new markets involves adapting to local employment laws, union considerations, and potentially securing visas for key staff members.

Supplier agreements, menu IP licensing, and cross-border logistics will require careful legal alignment.

Advised L Catterton, the investor, on the transaction. The London-based cross-practice team includes corporate partners Linzi Thomas, Jon Fox, and Tom Evans. They were supported by associates Michael Houlder, Zaal Cama, and Catherine Fellows.

Additional advice to L Catterton covered:

Finance matters: Dominic Newcomb and Hendrik Smit (partners) with associates Patrick McDonald and Lucas Adomeit.

Compensation, employment, and benefits: Sarah Gadd (partner) with associate Joseph Goddard.

Tax matters: Simon Skinner (partner) with associate Mimi Kyprianou.

Data and technology: Fiona Maclean (partner) with associates Kate Burrell and Liz Longster.

Real Estate: Quentin Gwyer (partner).

Represented the financing sources backing the deal. The London team was led by leveraged finance partners Suhrad Mehta and Laura Bonamis, with support from associates Alex Taylor, Katherine Williams, Argyll Reid, Eve Murphy, and Alex Dalziel.

Advised Dishoom (the company and its management). The team was co-led by leisure head David Roberts and corporate partner Nick Crosbie, along with newly appointed partner Stephen Kilshaw for management-side advice. Finance partner Tom Hughes supported Dishoom on the financing arrangements.

They were backed by a broader team, including:

Corporate: Jack Richards, Carys Holland, Lucy Igbiri (Corporate).

Tax: Rebecca Stewart and Alex Oldland.

Employment: Scott Traynor

PE firms raise money from institutional investors (pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, HNWIs) into a fund (often a limited partnership).

The PE firm acts as the general partner (GP) and manages the fund.

The investors are limited partners (LPs), they commit capital but don’t run the fund.

Instead of handing over all the money up front, LPs make capital commitments.

When the PE firm finds a deal (like Dishoom), it makes a capital call, drawing down only what’s needed.

The rest stays with the LPs until required, which helps manage liquidity and returns.

PE typically acquires a significant equity stake in the target company (can be majority or minority).

They use a mix of:

Equity funding: direct cash from the fund.

Leverage (debt financing): loans/bonds to amplify returns (this is a leveraged buyout when majority stakes are acquired).

Expanding into new markets (e.g. Dishoom opening in the US).

Improving operations, supply chains, or digital strategy.

Strengthening governance and leadership teams.

Leveraging brand positioning to scale (Dishoom’s queues = market demand).

IPO (listing on the stock exchange).

Trade sale (selling to another company, e.g. competitor or strategic buyer).

Secondary buyout (selling to another PE fund).

Recapitalisation (refinancing and extracting dividends).

Returns are measured by IRR (internal rate of return) and MOIC (multiple on invested capital).

Carried interest (the PE firm’s profit share, usually 20%) is triggered once LPs receive their agreed “preferred return.”

Corporate Law → drafting shareholder agreements, governance structure, and protections for minority/ majority investors.

Finance Law → structuring debt elements, security packages, and intercreditor arrangements.

Tax Law → optimising fund and investment structures across jurisdictions.

Employment & Incentives → management incentive plans, retention schemes.

Commercial & IP → protecting brand assets and supply agreements.

Exit Planning → preparing legal frameworks for IPOs or trade sales.

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Disclaimer: This format is inspired by techniques I have learned from my mentor and during my LPC, particularly around decoding commercial case studies. If it resembles anyone else’s structure, that’s purely coincidental — but feel free to reach out if you have any concerns. I’m always happy to have a conversation. 😄

Read more on this here: https://www.cityam.com/dishoom-served-huge-valuation-after-founders-sell-stake/

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