HK-born Alan Yau sells pair of London restaurants for US$60m

A Hong Kong-born restaurateur has reaped a US$60 million windfall by selling his two exclusive Chinese restaurants in the heart of London.

The Times newspaper reported that Alan Yau had sold the Michelin-star restaurants Hakkasan and Yauatcha to Tasameem, a property arm of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Mr Yau, 45, who got his start in the food business by running a chain of budget Japanese restaurants, switched to the top end of the market in 2001 and was so successful that a futures trade developed in reservations at Hakkasan.

The Times said it understood that Mr Yau had decided to sell the restaurants to raise funds to expand beyond Britain but would keep a minority stake in the business.

Mr Yau, who moved to England as a 12-year-old in the 1970s - and was awarded an OBE in 2006 - founded the Wagamama chain in the 1990s, serving noodle soup to time-pressed, budget-conscious customers sitting at shared tables. He sold the chain and it has since changed hands between private equity firms numerous times.

In 2001, he spent GBP4.5 million (HK$69 million) to found Hakkasan in an underground former garage, which quickly proved, The Times said, that there was an appetite for champagne on satin sofas followed by shark's fin soup costing GBP40.