Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver hires bank to find restaurant investor: Times

LONDON (Reuters) - British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has hired advisers at Royal Bank of Canada to help find private equity investors and funds to purchase a stake in his restaurant business, the Times newspaper said, citing sources close to the situation. The so-called 'Naked Chef', whose fortune is estimated at around 180 million pounds ($283 million), floated the idea of attracting an outside investor to help expand his network of Italian restaurants late last year. A spokesperson for Oliver could not immediately be reached for comment. Oliver owns seven restaurant brands, including Jamie's Italian and Fifteen. His restaurant business had revenues of 110 million pounds with core earnings of around 14 million pounds, sources told Reuters in December. (Reporting by Karolin Schaps; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)