MTY Food Group Inc. (“MTY” or the “Company”) (TSX: MTY), franchisor and operator of multiple concepts of quick service restaurants, announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiaries MTY Tiki Ming Enterprises Inc. and MTY Franchising USA, Inc. have entered into a binding agreement to acquire the assets of a group of companies that owns and operate the Manchu Wok (www.manchuwok.com), Wasabi Grill & Noodle (wasabigrillandnoodle.biz) and SenseAsian (www.senseasian.ca) restaurants mainly in Canada and in the United States.
The total consideration for the transaction is expected to be $7.9M, paid from MTY’s cash on hand.
There are presently 133 stores in operations, 114 of which are franchised and 19 corporately-owned. Of the 133 stores, 51 are located in the United States, including 5 corporately-owned locations. During its most recent completed fiscal year, the network generated approximately $95M in system sales.
“Manchu Wok is an iconic brand in the ethnic food category and has a long history of success” said Stanley Ma, CEO of MTY. “We are very proud and excited to have the opportunity to add Manchu Wok, as well as Wasabi Grill & Noddle and SenseAsian, to our portfolio of brands. The addition of Manchu Wok will further increase our presence in Canadian food courts and will add to MTY’s nascent franchise network in the United States.”
The closing of the transaction is scheduled to happen on or before December 16th, 2014 and remains subject to several closing conditions as well as to standard regulatory approvals. Following the closing of the transaction, the operations of the franchisor will be relocated in MTY’s offices in Richmond Hill, Ontario.
October 23, 2014