Yo! Sushi eyes listing as it shifts focus to US and shops

YO! SUSHI, the conveyor-belt sushi chain, is exploring a stock market listing as it invests in a major expansion into supermarkets and the US and seeks to navigate a post-Covid recovery.

Mayfair Equity Partners, which bought the company for £81m in 2015, is understood to be considering an initial public offering of Yo! as part of a range of options for its planned exit strategy.

Since acquiring a majority stake in Yo!, Mayfair has overseen a string of acquisitions to grow the company’s presence in North America. The company paid $100m (£72m) for Canadian sushi brand Bento Box in 2017 before merging with American rival Snowfox in 2019, giving the combined group an enterprise value of $400m.

North America now accounts for two thirds of Yo!’s total sales, with the UK playing an increasingly smaller role.

Yo! was founded in 1997 by former Dragons’ Den star Simon Woodroffe, who has since sold his stake but retains rights over the brand.

The company has been shifting its focus in recent years to selling prepackaged sushi and opening kiosks in supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s and Tesco. This month it secured a deal with WH Smith to start selling its Food To Go range in some of the retailer’s hospital and travel locations. It has also launched a tie-up with fitness centre chain David Lloyd Leisure.

Britain’s hospitality sector is hoping for a surge in consumer demand postCovid after a string of lockdowns which have hammered pubs and restaurants. Yo! shut 19 restaurants and cut 250 jobs last year as part of an insolvency procedure to shore up costs. Shareholders in Yo!, including Mayfair, gave the chain £13m as part of the restructuring.