ING Barings and its private equity clients, TDR Capital and Capricorn Ventures, have acquired PizzaExpress a day before their £278m (€394m) offer for the UK restaurant chain was due to expire.

The bidders have collected acceptances worth 75% of PizzaExpress's capital despite opposition from a trio of well-known fund managers: Fidelity International, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and M&G. They finally reached that mark on Friday, day 59 of the maximum 60-day offer period allowed under UK regulation, having already extended the offer period five times.