BIZ BUZZ: Major resto chain for sale

A major restaurant group could be close to a sale if its owners agree to one of several offers on the table.

A Biz Buzz source said interested buyers for the group were foreign and local parties willing to pay “north” of $150 million (P8.4 billion) to acquire the company, best known for its US hamburger and Italian casual restaurants often found in the country’s major malls.

Interested parties also include private equity funds, although this group has already received private equity money in the past via a firm with a Spanish-sounding name based in Makati City.

“These are serious buyers. But of course, the board is still evaluating whether to sell or not,” the source said.

While the company has been on the selling block for some time, we’re told there was no hurry to complete a deal given the resurgence of restaurants in the postpandemic era.

The group remains on expansion mode as it continues to open new branches of a US donut chain that made its Philippine debut last year. —Miguel R. Camus INQ