Sticks'n'Sushi secures £22m loan to support growth

A premium Japanese restaurant group has secured a £22m loan to support the expansion of its restaurant portfolio. 

Founded in Denmark in 1994 by brothers Jens and Kim Rahbek and Thor Andersen, Sticks'n'Sushi has successfully scaled to 27 restaurants – 12 in Copenhagen, 12 across the UK and three in Berlin. The financial injection provided by OakNorth marks the digital bank's first pan-European transaction. 

The group opened its first UK restaurant in Wimbledon in 2012, with the country now standing as the company's largest market in terms of turnover. Sticks'n'Sushi is currently preparing to launch its 13th UK restaurant in Richmond in May. 

The restaurant business was recently acquired by private equity firm McWin Capital Partners – a sector specialist with stakes in several chains, including Big Mamma, Vapiano and Burger King Germany, to name a few. 

'We've opened a restaurant every year since 2012'

Commenting on the transaction, Andreas Karlsson, CEO of Sticks'n'Sushi says: "Our continued growth is really exciting – we've opened a restaurant every year since 2012 and we launched two last year in Shoreditch and Kingston, followed by Richmond this May, which will make it three in nine months. Over the years, we've built a loyal customer base who continue to choose us because of the quality of food we serve and the quality of service we provide.

"We have identified great locations for several new restaurants in the coming years, and with the support of McWin and OakNorth, we will be able to take advantage of this. We're incredibly grateful for both of their support and the commercial and collaborative nature in which they operate – it genuinely feels like a partnership and a relationship that will help make us an even stronger business for years to come."

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