Tragus Holdings, the restaurant group which operates the mid-market Bella Italia and Café Rouge restaurant brands, has been acquired by Legal & General Ventures (L&GV) in a deal estimated to be worth around £95m.

Tragus was previously owned by Whitbread, which wrote it down by £145m before deciding to sell the entire portfolio. Employing approximately 3,800 people, the business is expected to generate revenues of around £114m in the year to May 2005.

The estate totals 157 sites and as well as Café Rouge and Bella Italia, also includes the Mamma Amalfi, Leadenhall Wine & Tapas Bar and Abbaye brands plus the Oriel restaurant in London’s Sloane Square.

L&GV has put in place additional funding of around £12m to expand the business and a new management team has been brought on board. It intends to open at least 12 new sites a year.

The new chief executive of Tragus will be Graham Turner, previously managing director of the Unique Pub Company. Meanwhile, chief financial officer will be Mohan Mansigani and the former operations director of Café Rouge, James Parsons, will become chief operating officer.

Brian Phllips, L&GV managing director, said: “We are delighted to have acquired Tragus which continues L&GV’s focus on the leisure industry.

“The Café Rouge and Bella Italia brands have a strong High Street presence and we are keen to build on this success with a targeted rollout of additional restaurants across the UK.”