The 94-strong cafe-bar chain, Loungers has been acquired by private equity firm, Lion Capital for £137m from Piper Private Equity.
Lion Capital, whose other investments include Wagamama and Jimmy Choo, was believed to be in exclusive discussions with Loungers earlier this month.
Loungers, which operates the Lounge and Cosy Club brands, was established in Bristol in 2002, with the founders, Alex Reilley and Jake Bishop, who own around 50% of the business.
Piper invested in Loungers in April 2012 when the group comprised 20 Lounges and three Cosy Club sites. Since then it has more than quadrupled the number of sites to 94, opening 20 sites a year since 2014 and creating about 2,000 jobs.
With the new backing from Lion Capital, Loungers is now targeting the opening of its 100th site by April 2017, and has a further 20 in the pipeline for the following year.