Raymond Blanc sells £1m of Nightcap shares

Raymond Blanc, the celebrity chef, has made £1m by selling shares in Nightcap, the bar group founded by Dragons' Den star Sarah Willingham.

Nightcap raised £10m in a share placing on 12 May that was oversubscribed. It said to satisfy demand, Blanc and restaurateur David Moore, another big shareholder, sold some of their stock at the same price as the placing.

Blanc sold 4,347,826 at 23p each for a total of £1m and Moore sold 2,350,000 shares, reaping £540,500. The sales leave Blanc owning 3.93% of Nightcap and Moore with a 4.16% stake.

Willingham founded Nightcap to snap up hospitality businesses in a bet the sector would recover strongly after the pandemic. The company floated in January and bought London Cocktail Club, a business she had already invested in with Blanc and Moore.

On 4 May Nightcap agreed to buy a second business, Adventure Bar Group. It raised £10m to invest in the business, reduce debt and fund further deals.