2 Sisters owner Ranjit Singh Boparan has acquired 1950s-themed US chain Ed’s Easy Diner in a pre-pack administration to add to his restaurant empire.

Boparan Restaurant Holdings, which also owns Harry Ramsden’s and Giraffe, has picked up the Ed’s Easy Diner brand, the company’s head office and 33 restaurants, securing 700 jobs.

However, 379 staff have been made redundant after 33 outlets, which were not part of the deal, closed with immediate effect.

It is the second deal in recent weeks that Boparan has completed using a controversial pre-pack arrangement, following the acquisition of the assets of struggling turkey giant Bernard Matthews by his private office.

The Bernard Matthews deal has faced criticism from MPs on the Work and Pensions Select Committee, with a report this week claiming that the pre-pack had been “carefully crafted” to dump the pension liability.

Rob Croxen and Blair Nimmo from KPMG were appointed as joint administrators to Ed’s Easy Diner Group Ltd, Ed’s Easy Diner Holdings Ltd and Ed’s Easy Diner Overseas Ltd before concluding a pre-packaged sale of the business to Giraffe Concepts, part of Boparan Restaurant Holdings.

“While we are pleased the transaction preserves around 700 jobs, our immediate priority in the coming days will be to liaise with those employees who have been affected by redundancy and ensure that in addition to receiving all back pay owed, they are provided with any assistance they need,” Croxen said.

Boparan acquired 57 Giraffe restaurants from Tesco in June as part of the supermarket’s non-core asset sell-off. The price paid for the lossmaking business was not revealed but it was expected to be less than the £50m Tesco bough Giraffe for in 2013.

The owner of poultry giant 2 Sisters also counts London-based chain Fishworks and The Cinnamon Collection, which includes upscale Indian restaurant The Cinnamon Club, as part of his restaurant assets.

Ed’s restaurants transferring to Giraffe Concepts:

Basingstoke
Belfast Boucher Square
Birmingham BCA
Birmingham Bullring
Birmingham Grand Central
Birmingham Selfridges
Bluewater
Brighton Churchill Square
Bromley
Cambridge Extra
Cambridge Grand Arcade
Canterbury
Cardiff
Cheshire Oaks
Euston
Glasgow St Enoch
Gloucester
Lakeside
Liverpool Lord Street
London Victoria Place
Mayfair
Meadowhall
Merry Hill
Metrocentre
Norwich
Nottingham Victoria Centre
Peterborough Extra
Rugby Elliotts Field
Soho
Southampton
Swindon
Watford
York Designer Outlet

Restaurants to close:

Aberdeen Bon Accord
Banbury
Basildon Debenhams
Blackburn The Mall
Blackpool
Bridgend
Carlisle The Lanes
Chester Grosvenor Centre
Crawley County Mall
Derby
Doncaster Frenchgate
Edinburgh Fort Kinnaird
Inverness Eastgate
Islington
Leicester
Livingston The Centre
Luton The Mall
Manchester Debenhams
Plymouth Drake Circus
Reading
Redditch
Trocadero
Wandsworth
White City Debenhams
Woking
York Monks Cross

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