Wagamama owner TRG confirms interest from PizzaExpress: Wagamama owner The Restaurant Group (TRG) has confirmed it has received interest from PizzaExpress, but that no offer has yet been made for the business. It comes after Sky News reported PizzaExpress was at the preliminary stages of evaluating whether to make a rival offer for TRG, which this month agreed to be bought by Apollo Global Management for just over £500m. TRG said: “The board of TRG notes the recent press speculation and confirms it has received a request within the last week from Wheel Topco Limited (Wheel Topco), the owner of PizzaExpress Group, for diligence information on the company in accordance with Rule 21.3 of the Code to enable Wheel Topco to evaluate a possible offer for the company. No written or verbal indicative proposal relating to a possible offer, including as to terms, price or form of consideration, has been made to the board of TRG by Wheel Topco. The board of TRG confirms that it will provide diligence information to Wheel Topco in accordance with its obligations under the Code. If any proposal is provided by Wheel Topco, the board of TRG will carefully consider its terms, in conjunction with its advisers. A further announcement will be made as appropriate. There can be no certainty that an offer by Wheel Topco will be made for the company, nor as to the terms on which an offer might be made. Accordingly, shareholders are advised to take no action at this time with regard to the information request received from Wheel Topco. The Rule 2.7 announcement released on 12 October 2023 in connection with the bid by Rock Bidco Limited, a special purpose vehicle indirectly owned by the Apollo funds, managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc., for TRG stated that the board of TRG intends to recommend shareholders vote in favour of the proposed scheme. That intention to recommend is not withdrawn, qualified or modified. In accordance with Section 4(c) of Appendix 7 of the Takeover Code, the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers will announce the deadline by which Wheel Topco must clarify its intention in relation to TRG. This announcement has been made without the consent of Wheel Topco.” Other potential counterbidders are also said to be examining whether to make offers. PizzaExpress is controlled by a group of debt funds including Bain Capital Credit and Cyrus Capital Partners, which took ownership in 2020. Prior to that, the UK’s biggest chain of pizza restaurants was owned by China’s Hony Capital. Although it has not been rumoured as a potential counterbidder for TRG, which also owns the Brunning & Price pub chain, analysts believe there is logic in its interest. One said on Wednesday that there would be substantial cost synergies generated by bringing the two chains under a single holding company.
Premium subscribers to receive updated Premium Database of Multi-Site Companies and access to videos from Propel Talent and Training Conference tomorrow: Premium subscribers are to receive the updated Premium Database of Multi-Site Companies and access to the videos from the Propel Talent and Training Conference tomorrow (Friday, 27 October). The updated Propel Multi-Site Database, which is produced in association with Virgate, will be sent at midday. Cafe and bakery concepts are among the 46 new multi-site companies being added to the next edition. It features
Paris Baguette, a South Korean multinational chain of bakery-cafés that made its debut in the UK last year and is ramping up its franchise partner recruitment as it looks to expand in London. Midlands bakery
Butterwick was started in 2017 by husband-and-wife duo Ryan and Fiona Scarborough, who originally began as wedding cake specialists, and it will open its 12th site early next year, in Melton Mowbray. Plus,
Cheese and Pickle Co, owned by the Davis family, has opened a new cafe, deli and kitchen in Houghton-le-Spring. Premium subscribers are also to receive access to all the videos from this month’s Propel Talent and Training Conference. They will be sent 13 videos tomorrow at 9am. Premium subscribers also receive access to five other databases: the
New Openings Database; the
Propel Turnover & Profits Blue Book; the
UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database; the
UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database; and the
Who's Who of UK Food and Beverage. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The single subscription rate is £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers.
Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription. Premium subscribers also receive their morning newsletter 11 hours early, at 7pm the evening before; regular video content and regular exclusive columns from Propel group editor Mark Wingett.
KFC to end relationship with Deliveroo: KFC is ending its relationship with Deliveroo in a blow to the London-listed delivery outfit’s customer offering. City AM reports that news of the change has been circulated to KFC staff, with the restaurant business choosing to focus its efforts on Uber Eats and Just Eat. The company told staff it intends to increase the percentage of orders it receives directly “alongside better commercials with aggregators”. Deliveroo, told City AM that its focus is providing great value on its platform and partnering with restaurants and grocers who “share the same outlook”. “We were pleased to be able to offer KFC the opportunity to bring down commission rates by improving their service for our shared consumers. We regret that KFC has refused to agree to these terms at this time.” A KFC spokesperson said: “KFC has confirmed that it will be parting ways with Deliveroo, so from 26 October 2023 customers will no longer be able to order its finger lickin’ fried chicken on the Deliveroo platform. However, KFC will still be available through Just Eat, Uber Eats and on KFC Delivery – or by visiting a KFC restaurant in-person. KFC will now be focusing its delivery offer on its own-delivery channel and with aggregator platforms Just Eat Uber Eats – but wants to thank Deliveroo’s riders for their hard work in helping to deliver its finger-lickin’ fried chicken to fans across the country. We continuously review our portfolio of delivery options to ensure we’re providing the right offer across all the right channels for our fans.”
C&C Group reports solid underlying H1 performance with branded businesses performing strongly: C&C Group has this morning reported that it generated a solid underlying H1 performance with its branded businesses performing strongly. It posted net revenue of €872.5m in the six months to 31 August, which it said was broadly in line with H1 FY2023 despite one-off disruption of the ERP System implementation (ERP). It said that its strong performance in branded revenues continued, with sales up 6.9%. However, operating profit was €30.5m, down €22.8m principally driven by a one-off circa €22m ERP impact. It said: “The group’s GB distribution business was breakeven in H1 FY2024 despite these challenges. Operating profit in the branded business was up 4.6% to €25.2m. Branded margins were solid at 14.5% as pricing actions offset most of the inflationary impacts on the group’s cost base. Net debt to adjusted Ebitda of 2.1x is marginally higher than our target range, due to the one-off ERP impact. Group leverage target of 1.5x to 2.0x for February 2024 reaffirmed. Net debt excluding leases to adjusted Ebitda was 1.6x in H1 FY2024. Bulmers and Tennent’s delivered revenue growth of 9.1%, maintaining clear market-leading positions. Premium beer portfolio recorded revenue growth of 23.1% with volume growth of 16.8%.” It said that reflecting the board’s confidence in the business and its strong cash generation characteristics, it intends to distribute up to €150m to shareholders over the next three fiscal years, through dividends and other capital returns as deemed appropriate at the time. The company said that service levels have been restored to pre-ERP implementation levels and its priority in H2 FY2024 will be ensuring it delivers “outstanding service to our customers, win back customers and improve operating efficiency”. It said: “Operating environment challenges are expected to persist with continued cost pressure over the next 12 months, before some easing in FY2025, following which we target an increase in branded margins as we continue to take pricing and cost actions and improve operating efficiency. We are at an advanced stage of the chief financial officer recruitment process, and we will provide an update in due course.” Patrick McMahon, C&C Group chief executive, said: “Set against a difficult market backdrop we are pleased with the strength of the performance of our branded businesses in Ireland and Scotland in the period. We have made significant progress in restoring customer service levels following the ERP system implementation issues in our GB distribution business within our planned timeframe. Delivering outstanding service, winning customers, continued business simplification and improved operating efficiency remain our top priorities and focus for the second half. We are also pleased to announce today our intention to distribute up to €150m to shareholders over the next three fiscal years through dividends and capital returns, while maintaining leverage(vi)(ii) within our target range of 1.5x to 2.0x.”
