The TGI Fridays restaurant chain is on the verge of a partial rescue in a deal that could save thousands of jobs.
Hostmore, the company that owns rights to the brand in the UK, collapsed into administration last month after an aborted American expansion.
It left 87 sites - including two in Aberdeen - and 3,000 employees facing an uncertain future, with administrators at Teneo brought in to recover as much money as possible for creditors.
Sky News now reports that the owners of an upmarket restaurant business, D&D London, are nearing a deal to buy between 50 and 55 of the company’s venues.
Breal Capital and Calveton, which bought D&D last year, were hammering out a deal over the weekend and preparing to announce, possibly as soon as today.
Sources told the broadcaster that the sale could save as many as 2,000 of the jobs under threat.
It would include Hostmore’s existing leases and the right to the TGI Fridays brand in the UK.