The TGI Fridays logo design is seen on among its dining establishments in London, U.K., on May 27, 2020.
John Lamparski|Lightrocket|Getty Images
TGI Fridays and Hostmore, the chain’s U.K. franchisee, revealed strategies to combine on Tuesday.
The all-share offer is valued at 177 million pounds, or $220 million. If it closes, TGI Fridays, best understood for its potato skins, chicken wings and unlimited appetisers, will be openly traded on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker “TGIF.”
The business’s head office for its U.S. and international brand name operations will stay in Dallas,Texas CEO Weldon Spangler, who has actually led the business given that October, will keep his present function.
“As we were thinking about our future and working with Hostmore on their future, it was one of those ideas that somebody brought up and everybody looked at each other and said, ‘This might just work,'” Spangler informed CNBC.
The brand-new business would own 189 dining establishments in the U.S. and the U.K., the business stated. Franchisees would run the staying approximately 400 places of the chain’s international footprint, which covers 44 nations.
If authorized by regulators, the merger is anticipated to close in the 3rd quarter.
TriArtisan Capital Advisors purchased TGI Fridays from longtime owner Carlson Restaurants in 2014 in an offer supposedly valued at more than $800 million. TriArtisan likewise owns stakes in P.F. Chang’s and Hooters.
In 2019, TGI Fridays revealed strategies to go public through a merger with an unique function acquisition business, however that offer broke down as the Covid-19 pandemic roiled monetary markets and the dining establishment market.
In 2022, TGI Fridays’ income increased 3.6% to $752 million, according to U.S. franchise disclosure files. But the bar-and-grill chain has actually been stuck in turn-around mode as mall decrease and the casual-dining section loses consumers.
Spangler informed CNBC that TGI Fridays is now going back to its roots and focusing more on its bar offerings. Across the dining establishment market, alcohols are generally more rewarding than food. Under Spangler, the chain likewise generated new members, like employing Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group veteran Ray Risley as its U.S. president.
Earlier this year, TGI Fridays closed 36 underperforming dining establishments in the U.S.
