Famous Brands’ UK burger outlet starts insolvency process
Gourmet Burger Kitchen has been put under the UK’s bankruptcy protection system
Famous Brands, the owner of Steers and Wimpy, has launched an insolvency process in the UK and plans to shut some restaurants as it battles to turn around its Gourmet Burger King (GBK) chain. The fast-food outlet, whose decision to expand to the UK in 2016 was praised by the market, sending its share price to an all-time high, said on Wednesday that it had launched an insolvency process aimed at stabilising GBK. The announcement lifted the group’s share price to its strongest close in more than two months. The stock, which reached a record of R172.80 soon after the UK burger business was bought in 2016, closed at R104.50 on Wednesday, up 4.77% on the day. Facing a tough local economy and political uncertainty in SA, listed companies have been under pressure to diversify offshore, often with expensive consequences. Famous Brands’s misadventure in the UK burger market has already seen it write off the value of GBK by more than half since it bought it for £120m (about R2.2bn) two years...
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