Wagamama workers to share £4m Christmas bonus after chain’s sale. Staff to receive up to £2,000 each following £559m takeover by Restaurant Group (RTN). Wagamama staff are to receive Christmas bonuses of up to £2,000 each after the £559m sale of the restaurant chain. Around 4,000 staff will share in a £4m bonus pot as part of a payout ordered by the outgoing chief executive, Jane Holbrook, and Wagamama’s former private equity owner Duke Street. Head chefs and managers will bank £2,000 each, while waiting staff will pocket £1,000, provided they have worked at Wagamama for more than 12 months. It is understood that the bonus is meant as a token of appreciation from Holbrook and Duke Street, which will receive a massive windfall from Wagamama’s sale.
GSK plans break-up after £10bn Pfizer deal. Merger of consumer healthcare portfolios to pave way for spin-off of drugs business. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), one of the world’s biggest drugs groups, is to be broken up after the company agreed to spin off its consumer healthcare business in a £10bn joint venture with its US rival, Pfizer. GSK, whose consumer brands include Sensodyne and Panadol, will have a controlling stake in the partnership of 68%, with Pfizer owning the remainder. The FTSE 100 drugs maker said that within three years of closing the deal, which is expected in the second half of 2019, it will demerge and float the consumer health business, splitting GSK into two distinct businesses: one focused on consumer, the other on pharmaceuticals and vaccines
Unilever buys meat-free food company The Vegetarian Butcher. Acquisition of Dutch brand highlights scramble to tap into meat substitutes market. Unilever (ULVR) is buying the meat-substitute company The Vegetarian Butcher as it looks to cash in on the growing number of consumers turning their backs on meat. Founded by the former cattle farmer Jaap Korteweg, the Dutch brand’s quirky products – which include “nochicken” nuggets and “chickburgers”, apparently with the same “taste and structure” as patties made out of chicken – have earned it a cult following among vegetarians and vegans. In the UK, its products are sold largely through healthfood shops, and also in Waitrose. Unilever’s Nitin Paranjpe said it had been attracted to the brand’s “clear mission” and strong position in a booming market for meat alternatives.
