Nightcap acquires Dirty Martini for £4.65m

Late night bar operator Nightcap has announced the acquisition of Dirty Martini cocktail bar chain and its restaurant Tuttons in Covent Garden for £4.65m. 

Dirty Martini experienced tough trading conditions over the last year, in line with the hospitality industry in general, including the negative consequences of train strikes, the cost-of-living crisis and inflation as well as significant indebtedness. These factors have led to the business being put into administration. 

The Nightcap acquisition includes five Dirty Martini bars in London and another five across Cardiff, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and Leeds. 

Nightcap will incorporate Dirty Martini site operations into its existing head office infrastructure and has said to expect to see synergies across the business. 

In conjunction with the acquisition, Nightcap has also raised a total of £5m, through a subscription of 19,583,333 of new ordinary shares in the Company at 12 pence per share.

This is the fourth acquisition for the group in under three years, following the acquisitions of The Cocktail Club in January 2021, the Adventure Bar Group in May 2021 and the Barrio Bar Group in November 2021. 

Sarah Willingham, chief executive officer of Nightcap, said: “We couldn’t be happier to welcome Dirty Martini to the Nightcap family. These are long-established, well-run bars that fit well with our existing portfolio and our model of running multiple brands in clusters in London and around the country.

“Dirty Martini’s late-night bars operate in a similar way to ours. They have great bars in excellent locations with impressive fitouts, following over £10m of capital investment. With the acquisition of Dirty Martini, we have a sizable late night bar group with significant potential for further growth in the years ahead and we therefore look to FY 2024 with increased confidence.”