As captioned by the Entrepreneurng report, the owner of the Franco Manca and The Real Greek restaurant brands has agreed to sell the company to the Japanese owner of Wok to Walk and Marugame Udon for £93.4 million.
Tori doll, which is listed on the Tokyo exchange and has $1 billion in international sales, announced that it had teamed up with the restaurant industry specialized fund Capdesia to acquire the London-listed pizza and Greek casual dining firm Fulham Shore for 14.15 pence per share in cash.
On Wednesday morning, when the sale was revealed, shares of Fulham Shore surged by a third to 14p. Takaya Awata, who started with a yakitori, or grilled chicken, a restaurant in Japan in the 1980s and now has more than 1,000 locations worldwide, developed Toridoll in 1990.
The British company had maintained its performance despite “difficult trading circumstances of recent years,” according to the Japanese group, which said it had made the offer for Fulham Shore. It claimed there was an opportunity for the firm, which operates 97 locations throughout the UK, to expand both domestically and internationally and to introduce new goods, such as pre-made pizzas, into retail outlets.
Fulham Shore’s executive chair, David Page, stated that the purchase was recommended to shareholders because it would enable the company to “fulfill its long-term potential.”
“We are pleased with the noteworthy advancements Fulham Shore has made since it was created in 2012,” he stated. Even while we are still optimistic about the future of the company on its own, we have spoken with Toridoll and Capdesia and have received a proposal that we think is compelling for all of our stakeholders.”
Franco Manca, a restaurant famous for its sourdough pizzas, was established in Brixton, south London, in 2008, and Fulham Shore acquired it in 2015 at a time when it already owned The Real Greek.
The company stated on Wednesday that it anticipated sales of about £100 million for the year ending in March, which would be a record. Trading near transportation hubs and popular tourist destinations was doing well, but it had yet to reach pre-pandemic levels in office districts.
Rising prices for electricity, labor, and food are putting pressure on dining chains, and it’s difficult to find sales growth while customers try to cut back on indulgences due to skyrocketing household expenses. As the business had resumed following the pandemic lockdowns, the group said it would open six new restaurants this year.
However, it added: “The outlook for costs, be they utilities, raw ingredients, or labor, continue to present challenges for all operators within the sector, and we are not immune. Finding employees continues to be difficult, as it is for other operators.
In conclusion, the cooperation between Toridoll and Capdesia, according to Awata, president and chief executive of the company, would provide “the combined knowledge and huge resources” to help Franco Manca and The Real Greek grow more quickly.
Source: The Guardian
