Living Venture's The Alchemist, the bar and restaurant chain, has undergone a management buy-out backed by Palatine Private Equity.
The chain has 250 staff in four outlets in Manchester, Leeds and London, and recorded sales of £11.3m last year.
Palatine is injecting £12m into The Alchemist, and £6.5m development and Santander is providing £6.5m of financing to fund its expansion plans into other cities.