Be At One on the market with £60m price tag: Cocktail bar business Be At One, set up by three former TGI Friday’s bartenders and 32% owned by Piper Private Equity, has been put up for sale for up to £60 million, The Times has reported. The company, which runs sites that offer a choice of 190 cocktails and no food, is reported to have hired AlixPartners to handle a formal sale. According to Debtwire, which covers the leveraged finance sector, AlixPartners approached potential debt providers to assess appetite for the business before deciding to press ahead with a formal sale valuing the business at between £55 million and £60 million. Founders Steve Locke, Rhys Oldfield and Leigh Miller, funded the opening of their first Be At One bar in Battersea, south London, in 1998 with car loans and credit cards. Of its 31 bars, 17 are in London, with further sites in Bat, Brighton, Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Oxford and Sheffield. In its most recent year to 27 March 2016, turnover increased by 32% to £29.8m with group Ebitda up 42% to £4.7m and store adjusted Ebitda up 30% to £7.5m. Piper paid £8m for its 32% stake in Be At One in 2011.

Richoux Group hires Simon Morgan as non-executive chairman: Richoux Group has announced the appointment of Simon Morgan as non-executive chairman with immediate effect. At the same time, Philip Shotter has resigned as non-executive chairman. The company stated: “The board would like to thank Mr Shotter for his service to the company. Simon David Morgan, aged 53, is currently a partner at Olswang. Mr Morgan is also a director of 34 Boscombe Road Freehold Ltd and New Notes & Noises Limited. There are no other matters that are required to be disclosed under Schedule two paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules in relation to the appointment of Mr Morgan”.

Everyman Media secures Stratford site: Everyman Media has confirmed that the previously announced venue in Stratford-upon-Avon has now become unconditional. It is expected that the new four screen site will open in the second quarter of 2017. The lease for the site is 25 years and the annual rent is £185,880 per annum. The landlord of the Stratford-upon-Avon site is Blue Coast Stratford. Blue Coast Stratford and Blue Coast Private Equity, who owns 19.1%. of the company, are companies within the same group. Michael Rosehill, a non-executive director of the company, is a director of both entities. The company stated: “Due to Mr Rosehill, as a director, and Blue Coast Private Equity L.P, as a substantial shareholder, being connected with Blue Coast Stratford LLP, the lease arrangement at the venue in Stratford-upon-Avon is considered to be a related party transaction under the AIM Rules. The directors of the company consider the terms of the lease to be on commercial terms. Furthermore, the directors of the company, other than Michael Rosehill, having consulted the company’s nominated advisor Cenkos Securities, consider the terms of the lease to be fair and reasonable insofar as the company’s shareholders are concerned.”