Ashurst and finers reunite on tragus job

Ashurst and Finers Stephens Innocent have reunited to advise Tragus, the owner of the Café Rouge and Bella Italia chains. The firms acted for Tragus on its £14.14m acquisition of Ma Potter's restaurants. Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham, led by partner Nick Brown, advised the sellers on the sale of the 16 bar and restaurant sites. Ashurst, led by corporate partner Bruce Hanton and senior associate Gavin Gordon, advised Tragus on the corporate, tax, employment and IP elements, while Finers partner Julian Hindmarsh advised on the real estate aspects. The two firms first became involved with Tragus in January 2005, when Ashurst acted for Legal & General Ventures (LGV) on its acquisition of the restaurant owner from ECI Partners, which was advised by Finers. Ashurst and Finers met again in December 2006, with Ashurst acting for LGV on the sale of Tragus, again advised by Finers, to the Blackstone Group for £267m.