Pho, Rosa's Thai and Mowgli form combined restaurant group

A new combined restaurant group is being launched, comprising leading brands Pho, Rosa’s Thai and Mowgli to create the UK’s largest multi-site casual dining operator in the Asian casual dining segment.

TriSpan, the investment firm behind the three brands, plans to combine the businesses under one new holding company, Arcturus Group, as part of its Rising Stars fund. The fund has a dedicated private equity strategy to invest in emerging restaurant brands poised for significant growth.

Arcturus Group

Each brand will continue to operate independently, with existing CEOs Sarah Hills (Rosa’s Thai), Patrick Marrinan (Pho) and Nisha Katona (Mowgli) remaining at the helm of each business. The founders of each company will remain involved, ensuring brand identities and direction are maintained.

"This next chapter is incredibly exciting, combining shared knowledge, investment and expertise as part of the Arcturus Group to really help take Mowgli to the next level,” says Katona. 

Arcturus Group will be led by experienced hospitality leader Jason Cotta as CEO (35+ years of experience at Itsu, Ole & Steen and Costa Coffee), and Matt Crumpler as CFO (15+ years of experience at Wagamama, The Restaurant Group and Virgin Active).

The collective will focus on driving like-for-like growth, business development and an ambitious new openings pipeline across the UK and internationally. The group plans to open 20 new restaurants across the three brands throughout 2025, having already established five since the start of the year.

Arcturus Group aims to create a platform where the current brands and additional founder-led, entrepreneurial restaurant businesses can leverage the power of the group to accelerate growth.

The three brands operate in prominent locations and key markets, with 60% of their sites in London and 40% regionally. More than three-quarters of business comes from dine-in, the remaining via delivery partners. As part of its commitment to business development, Arcturus Group will assist in implementing delivery within Mowgli for the first time.

Fady Michel Abouchalache, founding partner and chair of TriSpan, comments: “The combination of these three great brands under one group consolidates TriSpan’s presence in the restaurant private equity space and demonstrates our Rising Stars team’s ability to add value to its investors, partners and the leading businesses that we invest in.”

Cotta adds: “This is a fantastic opportunity to bring three leading restaurant brands together under one group, accelerating growth and bringing truly outstanding food to more people, both in the UK and overseas.

“We are entirely committed to ensuring each brand retains its individual charm and character, but are excited to leverage the larger group to create new opportunities for growth.

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