Pizza Express Debts Worsen During Coronavirus Restaurant Closures | Eater London

"Bought for £900 million by Hony Capital in 2014, this long-established casual dining chain has been crippled by mounting debts and COVID-19 forced closures: external liabilities sit at roughly £1.1 billion, including about £450 million in loans from its owner that are now effectively worthless, and a £450 million bond repayment due next August. A likely creditor-led debt-for-equity swap would erase the private equity owner’s stake and could precipitate the owner’s collapse rather than the business itself; despite the turmoil the chain is expected to survive in some form. Its struggles exemplify a broader problem of successive private-equity buyouts and layered borrowing propping up restaurant groups, a model that COVID-19 has accelerated but did not create." - James Hansen