Japanese food franchise Yo! Sushi put up for sale, to expand in London

Yo! Sushi, a Japanese food restaurants franchise centered in the UK, has been put up for sale at a starting price of £120 million.

The company is owned by independent wealth manager and private equity firm Quilvest, which bought it in 2008 from founder Simon Woodroffe for about £51 million.

The company plans to increase its restaurant network in the capital city of London with around 10 new stores per year, starting 2014.

The expansion comes after a number of new openings outside London with units in key locations in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Manchester.

The first Yo! Sushi sushi bar was founded in 1997 in London and since then has grown to be the most famous sushi brand in the UK.

Yo! Sushi has a total of 67 restaurants in the UK and another 11 internationally, including in Dublin, the U.S., Sintra, Norway, Bahrain, Dubai, and Kuwait.

It offers 80 Japanese inspired items, including soups, rice or noodle-based dishes, salads, tempura and hot classics like Chicken Katsu Curry, Salmon Teriyaki or Yakisoba noodles.