Fat Brands Inc. Grows Even Larger With Acquisition of Global Franchise Group

Fat Brands Inc. announced today that it plans to acquire Global Franchise Group (GFG) from Serruya Private Equity, Inc. and Lion Capital LLP for $442.5 million at the end of July. This sale marks the largest restaurant acquisition of the year and includes GFG’s five quick service restaurant brands: Round Table Pizza®, Great American Cookies®, Hot Dog on a Stick®, Marble Slab Creamery® and Pretzelmaker®.

The quick service restaurant industry had a very strong 2020 compared to other restaurant concepts and has since recovered quickly, making GFG’s portfolio of brand name concepts an attractive sale opportunity. With this acquisition, Fat Brands Inc. will now have more than 2,000 franchised and company-owned restaurants worldwide with a total of $1.4 billion in system wide annual sales.

“This acquisition is a key strategic milestone for FAT Brands,” said Andy Wiederhorn, president and CEO of Fat Brands Inc., in the company’s press release. “Now that the economy is emerging from COVID-19 and restaurants are rapidly recovering, we are pleased to have reached this agreement to incorporate a powerhouse restaurant franchising group with the support of Serruya Private Equity and Lion Capital.

The five new restaurant concepts have been very resilient coming out of the pandemic and will complement our existing brands. Furthermore, we will acquire GFG’s manufacturing operations, which will provide greater efficiencies and incremental revenue opportunities to our company.”

According to the press release, Fat Brands Inc. is acquiring GFG in cash and stock, and the deal is expected to close by the end of July.