Another bite out of London: Franco Manca set to go private in bumper deal
The owner of Franco Manca has been snapped up by a Japanese food franchise company in a £93m deal – the latest in a long line of London-listed firms to be taken private by foreign firms.
Fulham Shore, which also owns The Real Greek franchise, announced that it was offloading the business to Toridoll, a Tokyo listed business which owns fast food chains Wok to Walk and Marugame Udon in London.
The offer represents around a 38 per cent premium on the firm’s closing price yesterday.
It described the offer as a “significant opportunity” to grow the business, with plans for expansion from its 97 restaurants now on the table.
A note to investors read: “Fulham Shore is well positioned to continue to benefit from favourable market trends, particularly an anticipated growth in demand for Italian cuisine, and that its differentiated operating model will put Fulham Shore at the forefront of that growth.”
Franco Manca first launched in 2008 in Brixton Market and has since become a popular eatery across the capital and wider country with over 70 sites across the UK.
The brand which is known for serving its pizza on sourdough bread has also launched a trade deal with Tesco.
Fulham Shore said:“The trading momentum and absence of Covid closure periods compared to the last two financial years as well as new store expansion has driven a significant increase in revenue to circa £100m for FY23, which represents a new record high for the group.”