Financing

Canadian combo: Pinkberry owner buys Imvescor

MTY Food Group will buy another chain operator; the combined company will have 75 restaurant brands.

Serial restaurant chain acquirer MTY Food Group on Tuesday announced plans to merge with another Canadian brand operator, Imvescor Restaurant Group.

The deal is valued at $248 million Canadian dollars, and the combined company will operate 75 brands that have 5,700 locations.

This is the second deal in just the last month for MTY, a Montreal-based chain operator, following its November acquisition of the build-your-own burger chain The Counter. It’s also MTY’s sixth deal this year, most of which were acquisitions of Canadian brands.

Yet previous deals have also included the U.S.-based chain operator Kahala Brands, which operates Pinkberry, Cold Stone Creamery, Baja Fresh, Planet Smoothie and Blimpie Subs, among others.

Imvescor operates brands with 230 locations, including Pizza Delight, Scores, Baton Rouge Steakhouse & Bar, Ben & Florentine and Mike’s. Many of its locations have full service. The chains’ same-store sales increased 2.9% in the quarter ended July 30, when the company generated CA$13.3 million in revenue, according to Canadian securities filings.

“The combination of the two companies’ portfolios and expertise will produce tremendous opportunities for North American growth,” MTY Chairman Stanley Ma said in a statement. He said Imvescor’s full-service restaurants “will be highly complementary to our existing business.”

The combined company is expected to generate CA$2.9 billion in system sales and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, of CA$125-$130 million.

Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.

Multimedia

Exclusive Content

Financing

Despite their complaints, customers keep flocking to Chipotle

The Bottom Line: The chain continued to be a juggernaut last quarter, with strong sales and traffic growth, despite frequent social media complaints about shrinkflation or other challenges.

Operations

Hitting resistance elsewhere, ghost kitchens and virtual concepts find a happy home in family dining

Reality Check: Old-guard chains are finding the alternative operations to be persistently effective side hustles.

Financing

The Tijuana Flats bankruptcy highlights the dangers of menu miscues

The Bottom Line: The fast-casual chain’s problems following new menu debuts in 2021 and 2022 show that adding new items isn’t always the right idea.

Trending

More from our partners