Lunch Garden restaurant chain files for bankruptcy

Restaurant chain Lunch Garden is filing for bankruptcy, with some of its branches around Belgium to be taken over by Antwerp-based investor CIM Capital, which specialises in restructuring cases.

A special works council meeting took place at Lunch Garden's headquarters in Evere on Monday. The chain has 61 branches in total and four in Brussels: in Rue Neuve, Auderghem, Berchem-Sainte-Agathe and Evere.

While CIM Capital is slated to take over a number of restaurants, hundreds of jobs will be lost. By the end of 2023, the company had only 800 to 900 employees, compared with 1,100 in 2020.

British fund ICG has been Lunch Garden's main shareholder since 2021 and, in an attempt to turn its finance around after the difficult Covid period, ICG injected €13.5 million in 2023 and €5 million in 2024.

But faced with losses linked to the health crisis, rising energy costs, index-linking of wages and rents and rising food prices, the restaurant chain has not managed to get back on its feet.

Some locations have already closed their doors following the announcement of bankruptcy plans and a union representative informed staff at the chain's restaurant in Jambes, Namur province, that January's wages might not be paid.

L’Echo reports that the company carried out a private judicial reorganisation last year in order to find a buyer for its activities, but without success.

“We therefore had to turn to bankruptcy for a candidate to finally come out of the woodwork,” a source said.

Photo: Nicolas Maeterlinck/Belga