Pizza Express prepares to shutter 67 UK restaurants, cut more than 1,000 jobs, and transfer ownership to its debtholders

• Pizza Express said it may close 15% of its UK restaurants as part of a restructuring that puts up to 1,100 jobs at risk.
• The pizza chain also plans to transfer majority ownership from its current owner, Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital, to debtholders so it can secure funding for future growth.
• Hony Capital intends to retain ownership of the group's mainland China business, a spokesperson told Business Insider.

UK-based chain Pizza Express said on Tuesday it could close 15% of its restaurants in the UK, putting up to 1,100 jobs at risk.

The company also plans to transfer majority ownership to debtholders to secure financing for future growth, it said. Its current owner, Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital, intends to retain ownership of the group's mainland China business, a Pizza Express spokesperson told Business Insider.

All 449 restaurants across the UK were trading profitably before the coronavirus lockdown, the company said, but after businesses shut their doors it reviewed the viability of each site. The review is still ongoing, but up to 67 restaurants could close, it said, costing up to 1,100 people their jobs.

"It is with a heavy heart that we expect to permanently close a proportion of our restaurants, losing valued team members in the process," Zoe Bowley, UK and Ireland managing director, said in a statement.

The group said that "reducing the size of its estate will help it to protect 9,000 jobs."

The pizza chain, founded 55 years ago, may launch a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) — where it reaches an agreement with debtors to repay part or all of its debt over a period of time — in the "near future," it said.

More details are expected to be announced once the CVA is formally launched.

Pizza Express reopened 60 sites last month after the coronavirus lockdown lifted. As the government's "Eat Out to Help Out" initiative rolled out at the beginning of August, offering 50% off diners' bills, the chain had 166 restaurants open in the UK, with plans to reopen others.