Famous Brands: A tasty bite
Famous Brands makes "game-changer" deal with the purchase of UK chain Gourmet Burger Kitchen for R2.1bn
Famous Brands made a "game-changer" deal with the purchase of UK chain Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK) for R2.1bn — the group’s biggest acquisition yet.The restaurant franchiser bought the chain, which makes handcrafted burgers, from investment firm Yellowwoods Group, which acquired the brand in 2010. The deal will be funded through cash.This will be Famous Brands’ third brand in the UK, after it tried to win consumers over with Wimpy. It also exported Steers to the region — but neither has managed to really shift the needle."Wimpy has taken us a lot of time to repair," says Kevin Hedderwick, Famous Brands’ group strategic adviser. "We know we acquired a stressed asset in the UK, now the brand is in good nick. We had our best year ever last year, so the renovation of the Wimpy business is complete. The Steers business is always going to be a slow-burn process because people don’t know Steers."He adds that GBK has applied best practice in its business that Famous Brands could bring back...
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