THE company behind the Gourmet Burger Kitchen restaurant chain is considering a sale of one or more of its other brands in an effort to stop its biggest shareholder launching a takeover bid.

Clapham House, which is run by former Pizza Express bosses David Page and Paul Campbell, is believed to have received a number of inquiries from investors keen to buy Bombay Bicycle Club, The Real Greek and Tootsies, the other restaurant concepts it owns.

The group is thought to be exploring whether it would be worth pursuing the sale of one or more of them, which would raise money that could be reinvested in its core GBK operation. “The company is reviewing its structure,” said one source.

There has been much speculation that Capricorn Ventures, which owns the Nando’s chicken restaurant chain and has amassed a 29.9% stake in Clapham House, could be preparing to launch a takeover bid. It emerged as a shareholder in December after a downbeat results statement from the GBK owner saw 40% wiped off the company’s share price. Clapham House shares closed at 193½p on Friday, valuing the group at £72.3m.

The review is believed to be in its early stages, but the company hopes that diverting capital into the popular GBK chain would be enough to deter Capricorn. The trendy chain of pool halls, The Elbow Room, has been sold to Inc Group, a restaurant company with several venues at the O2 Arena in Greenwich, east London.

Terms of the deal are not being disclosed. Founder and 30% shareholder Justin Carter said that he is disposing of his stake but will continue as a consultant to the business while pursuing other projects. The company’s six sites – in London, Leeds and Bristol – have a combined turnover of £6m.

Frank Dowling, owner of the Inc Group, which had 20 outlets prior to the deal, said that activity based leisure venues, as popularised by Elbow Room and trendy bowling alleys such as All Star Lanes, were “in a growth phase right now”.

As well as Carter, another big beneficiary of the sale is top music producer Arthur Baker, who has a large shareholding.

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