Permira, the European private equity firm, has bought Little Chef and Travelodge from Compass Group, a global food service company, for £712m (€1.1bn), beating competition from other big industry players.

Compass said it wanted to dispose of Little Chef, the UK roadside restaurant chain, and Travelodge, the UK hotel group, which collectively had £368m of sales in the past financial year, as "they didn't fit with our strategic focus" following a review earlier in the year.