Restaurant operator Tragus Holdings is to undergo a strategic review that may lead to a sale or an IPO. 

Chief executive Graham Turner confirmed that corporate finance house Close Brothers has been hired to look into the options for the company, which could see Tragus valued at between £200m and £250m, over £100m more than the amount owners Legal & General Ventures paid for the company.

Tragus operates the Bella Italia, Café Rouge and Ortega chains and has 161 restaurants across the UK. Legal & General Ventures own 85% of the company, which it purchased from ECI Partners in a secondary buyout in January 2005 for around £92m. 

Analysts predict that an IPO is the most likely option, although a trade sale or a tertiary buyout are also possibilities. Legal & General Ventures have not floated a business for ten years.