Casual dining chain, Pizza Express high street group to be hit by closures, with over 60 restaurants to shut for good, with 1,100 job at risk.
The company owns 449 UK outlets and 166 restaurants are currently open, but it is not known yet which ones will be closed.
All the restaurants had been closed since lockdown began on 23 March, and began reopening in July as lockdown was eased.
The sale comes as Pizza Express, Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital, brought in restructuring experts to help deal with £735m of debts. It will also sell its business in China.
Pizza Express said in a statement today that diner demand had been 'encouraging' at the reopened sites and that plans for further reopenings were well underway.
It also said that restructuring the business would put it on a stronger financial footing in the new socially distanced environment.