The 13-year-old company will open two restaurants in Washington DC in the next year after the cash injection, which gives Spice a “significant” minority stake.
Co-founder John Vincent said Leon has the funds to grow significantly in the US, but is proceeding with caution.
“The principle is to fire bullets, then cannon balls. No one from the UK goes to America and sees it as an easy ride. Just because we speak the same language doesn’t mean to say we have the same culture. We’ll learn so much and make tonnes of mistakes.”
Fersen Lambranho, chairman of Spice’s controlling shareholder GP Investments, said Leon had “immense potential to become global”.
“We see Leon as an opportunity to replicate the great success of a former investment, Fogo de Chão, a Brazilian steakhouse that expanded into the US and is now listed on the Nasdaq.”
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