Longshot acquires Bel & Dragon from Orchid Group

Longshot, the former owners of the Groucho Club and London's first 24-hour restaurant, has acquired the Bel & Dragon group of pub restaurants from the Orchid Group.

Longshot, founded in 1994 by Ollie Vigors and Joel Cadbury sold its assets in June 2007, but announced in November last year it had raised £30m to invest in pubs. It is believed to have paid around £4m for the pubs.

Bel & Dragon consists of three freeholds and one leasehold site in Cookham, Godalming, Reading and Windsor. Orchid acquired the Bel & Dragon sites after its takeover of Premium Bars & Restaurants (PBR).

PBR, formerly Ultimate Leisure, had paid around £8.75m for the sites from Gourmet Holdings in June 2007.

Longshot believes there is "considerable scope" for growing the brand through investment in the current sites and expansion through the addition of new sites.

"Bel & The Dragon has a strong history and heritage," said Vigors. "We believe that with our background and experience, and investment in the business, we can build and develop it into a very strong and profitable brand."

Cadbury said Longshot was in early discussions over a number of other potential acquisitions and it saw a "strong pipeline" of opportunities. "The acquisition of Bel & The Dragon provides us with a strong platform to build Longshot's pub and restaurant interests. There is, we believe, considerable opportunity in this sector and we hope to acquire further leisure businesses where we can see potential to add value."

Orchid chief executive Rufus Hall said: "Bel & The Dragon is a great business but is a niche operation which is not scalable for Orchid. Conversely, Joel and Ollie are ideal owners to take the business forward."