Cafe Rouge owner Tragus wins reprieve The company, which is owned by private equity firm Blackstone, has been given the full backing of its lenders, including ICG, to gain more headroom on its £230m of debts in exchange for a fee of around £10m and higher future interest payments. Tragus, which has 125 Cafe Rouge restaurants, 75 Strada outlets and 85 Bella Italia operations, is one of the largest restaurant chains in Britain, serving more than 21m meals a year. The company had no immediate liquidity problems, with £40m cash on its balance sheet, but the squeeze on consumer spending has made it difficult to maintain earnings at the levels that had been previously agreed with banks. In the year ending May 29, 2011, Tragus saw earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) slip from £45.3m to £41.2m. The company spent £8m last year on opening 17 new restaurants to cultivate top line growth. But like all restaurant operators, Tragus has seen huge pressures on its costs, not least from the rising price of red meat and higher energy expenses. Under the terms of its new agreement with lenders Tragus's debts are now allowed to be six times ebitda, - rather than the previous five times. Last year, Graham Turner, Tragus chief executive, said: "It's been tough for a while... customers continue to face pressures on their discretionary spending from rising taxes, inflation and uncertainty over the future." Blackstone parachuted in ex-Virgin Mobile boss Charles Gurassa as chairman last year to bolster Tragus's board.