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Howard Kennedy gets a taste for Lebanese restaurant chain Comptoir Libanais

Law firm Howard Kennedy is advising Lebanese restaurant chain Comptoir Group on its AIM listing, raising some GBP16 million.

Comptoir Group currently operates 11 Comptoir Libanais restaurants, together with further franchise outlets.  It also operates two smaller Lebanese and Eastern Mediterranean outlets under the Shawa brand, and a further two standalone high-end restaurants called Levant and Kenza.

The restaurant group was created by Tony Kitous, who came to Britain in 1998 with just GBP70 in his pocket.  He opened his first restaurant in 1993 after selling harissa and merguez sandwiches and home-made lemonade outside his local football club. Comptoir Group aims to open 50 restaurants over the next five years.

The Howard Kennedy team was led by Partner and Head of Capital Markets Keith Lassman, with support from Corporate Associates Matthew Astbury, Amardeep Vangar, and Sian Dewing.  Senior Associate Lydia Christie advised on employment law aspects.

Lassman says: “Comptoir Libanais is one of the UK’s fastest growing restaurant chains in the UK, with its focus on socialising and not just refuelling. Strong interest from institutions has seen Comptoir Group increase its share offer to GBP16 million. We are delighted to be part of the Comptoir Group’s success story.”

Howard Kennedy has a strong Retail and Leisure team acting for a large number of retail and restaurant groups.  Restaurant clients include Carluccio’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Wildwood, dim t, Le Pain Quotidien and Alan Yau’s Park Chinois.

Cenkos Securities acted as nominated adviser and broker, represented by Holman Fenwick Willan.

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