LONDON (ShareCast) - Restaurant firm Clapham House has sold The Bombay Bicycle Club (BBC) business, made up of three restaurants and 15 delivery kitchens, for £4.4m in cash.

The proceeds from the sale to Gourmet Restaurants Limited will help cut existing bank debt and fund the continued development of the firm's other restaurants.

BBC generated a statutory aggregated loss before tax of £484,000 for the year ended 30 March 2008.

Profit after tax for the year to 30 March 2008 will differ from the preliminary results announced last month due to a one-off non cash impairment charge of £1.9m related to the sale.

“Whilst we are sad to see The Bombay Bicycle Club leave our portfolio, it is predominantly a home delivery business with a different pricing point and a longer period for return on capital than our other brands,” said Clapham chief Paul Campbell.

“We believe that at the current time it is appropriate to strengthen our balance sheet and focus resources on our pure restaurant businesses, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Tootsies and The Real Greek.”

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