Houlihan Lokey Advises Flat Iron

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Flat Iron, a portfolio company of Piper, has been acquired by McWin and TriSpan, leading investors in the hospitality and restaurant sectors. The transaction closed on 3 September 2025.

Founded in 2012, Flat Iron is an innovative steak restaurant brand that has carved out a unique position in the U.K. dining scene. Through its deep supply chain expertise and proprietary systemised cooking process, Flat Iron is able to deliver exceptional value to its guests, offering high-quality steaks with excellent service at accessible prices. Flat Iron has successfully scaled to 18 restaurants across London, Manchester, Leeds, and Cambridge, and intends to continue scaling both in the U.K. and by taking its first steps into international markets. Flat Iron is one of the U.K.’s fastest-growing restaurant businesses, consistently outperforming the market on like-for-like sales growth, with strong performance across existing and recently launched restaurants. The business has been led by CEO Tom Byng since 2021, who will continue to lead the group through its next stage of growth.

Founded in 1985, Piper is a U.K.-based consumer-dedicated private equity investor, focused on branded consumer investments across the restaurant, hospitality, food and beverage, and consumer products segments. Piper has helped scale more than 50 brands since its inception, leveraging its team of brand strategists, digital innovators, and talent and culture experts. Piper has been a minority investor in Flat Iron since 2017 and is exiting as part of the transaction.

Founded in 2016, McWin is a U.K.-based specialist private equity and venture capital investor focused on the foodtech, foodservice, and restaurant sectors. McWin was co-founded by restaurant operators and has a clear focus on value creation through leveraging its scale, network, and experience in the sector. McWin employs more than 30 people across EMEA and the U.S.

Founded in 2015, TriSpan is a U.K.- and U.S.-based industry-agnostic private equity investor focused on lower-middle-market companies across North America, Europe, and the U.K. TriSpan operates a dedicated fund focused on control-orientated growth investments in differentiated, high-growth restaurant concepts. Since its inception, TriSpan has completed 24 platform investments.

McWin and TriSpan have partnered to secure a co-control investment in Flat Iron and will work alongside the existing management team to support the company’s growth ambitions.

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to Flat Iron and its shareholders throughout the transaction. This transaction strengthens Houlihan Lokey’s position as the leading advisor in the hospitality sector, following recent roles advising on the sale of Loungers PLC to Fortress, City Pub Group PLC to Youngs, and Rhubarb Hospitality Collection to OVG. This transaction also represents the second time that we have advised Flat Iron, having previously advised on the investment from Piper in 2017.*

*Selected transactions were executed by Houlihan Lokey professionals while at other firms acquired by Houlihan Lokey or by professionals from a Houlihan Lokey joint venture company.

RELATED: Consumer, Corporate Finance