The Club 3000 bingo chain has bought seven Buckingham Bingo clubs for approximately £10 million.
Fraser Capital Management, the parent company of Club 3000, has bought three bingo clubs in Manchester and one in Bradford, Liverpool, Peterlee and Preston.
The funds to acquire the business have been lent by Clydesdale Bank and ends another chapter in the long and turbulent history of the Buckingham Bingo chain.
Club 3000 currently runs three bingo clubs in Coatbridge, Glenrothes and Cardiff and expects turnover to quadruple from £5 million to £20 million on the back of the acquisition. The company will grow from 120 employees to 480 employees.
Brian Fraser, managing director of Fraser Capital Management, Brian Fraser, said: “We’re delighted to complete this acquisition which will allow us to progress our plans for expansion of the Club 3000 brand.
“Our outlets in Scotland and Wales have been extremely successful and our aim is to replicate that success in our new North of England locations with a full relaunch under the Club 3000 brand in August.
“The industry has had a tough few years due to the general state of the economy as well as factors such as the smoking ban and an increasing tax burden. Despite these challenges, our commitment to providing customers with good service and value for money has paid off and we’ll be carrying those values forward into our expanded operation as we bring our new outlets on stream.
“This is very much a niche industry and Clydesdale Bank have seen how we’ve operated down the years and have developed a real knowledge and understanding of our business.
“We’re long-term customers of the Bank and their support has been vital in helping us to build our existing clubs from scratch into a major success story.”
Brian Fraser has been involved in the bingo industry for more than 30 years. In 1997, he founded the Riva Bingo chain before selling it to private equity investors in 2004.
Ken Smith, managing partner at Clydesdale Bank’s Lanarkshire Financial Solutions Centre (FSC), said: “Brian is recognised throughout the industry for his track record of success and for the shrewd approach he has taken to building the Club 3000 brand.
“We’ve worked with Brian and his team at Fraser Capital for 11 years and the close relationship we’ve been able to develop meant we were fully aware of the potential which extending the brand across the UK had for the business.”