The holding company of 2 Sisters Food Group, Boparan Holdings, has bought the Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK) restaurant chain out of administration.

Boparan Restaurant Group (BRG), which also owns Giraffe and Ed’s Easy Diner, will acquire the restaurant chain from South-African owned Famous Brands, with the deal expected to be completed within the coming days.

The company entered administration this week due to the impact of Covid-19, and the move will now see Boparan take over 35 sites, saving around 650 jobs. However, it has been confirmed that 26 restaurants will close, putting 362 jobs at risk.

The business was sold out of administration by accountancy firm Deloitte, and joint administrator at Deloitte, Gavin Maher, told the BBC: “As with a number of dining businesses, the broader challenges facing ‘bricks and mortar’ operators, combined with the effect of the lockdown, resulted in a deterioration in financial performance and a material funding requirement.

“We have been working closely with the management team under very difficult market conditions to try and find a funding solution and I am glad to be able to announce the rescue of this well-loved brand together with a large proportion of the sites and workforce.

“However, it’s clearly disappointing that a number of sites have had to close resulting in today’s redundancies.”

GBK was founded in 2001 by New Zealanders Adam Wills, Greg Driscoll, Brandon Allen and Ugandan Kalimali Moses. The company was acquired by owners of Nandos, Capricorn Ventures, in 2010, before Famous Brands took over in 2016 in a deal worth US$143.3 million.