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Restaurant Brands NZ [NZX: RBD] is to become the sole operator of the Carl’s Jr burger chain brand.
It has agreed to pay $10.5 million to the family interests of Barry Forsgren for seven stores owned and operated by Forsgren NZ.
This will take the company’s total number of Carl’s Jr outlets to 16. Approval of US-based franchisor CKE Restaurants Holdings and assignment of leases is expected by the middle of the month.
Mr Forsgren opened the first Carl’s Jr stores in July 2011. Restaurant Brands established its Carl’s Jr chain in November 2012 and has turned it from a loss of $200,000 to a profit of $100,000 in the first half of its financial year as sales rose 34% to $8.8 million.
Restaurant Brands already operates the KFC, Pizza Hut and Starbucks Coffee chains. It is planning a potential 60 Carl’s Jr stores.
“We see the acquisition as a strategic opportunity to add critical mass to our Carl’s Jr chain and will use the increased scale to further leverage marketing and supply chain opportunities,” chief executive Russell Creedy says.
Separately, Restaurant Brands has signed a master licensing agreement with CKE that will allow Restaurant Brands to sublicense Carl’s Jr stores in New Zealand to third-party franchisees.
“Licensing smaller franchisees to operate the Carl’s Jr brand in locations where they can operate the business effectively will allow more rapid expansion of the Carl’s Jr store network,” he says.
NBR Food Industry Week
Mon, 10 Nov 2014
Mon, 10 Nov 2014
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Carl’s Jr unites in single chain
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