ALSEA, S.A.B. DE C.V.
Mexico City, August 4, 2014. Alsea, SAB de C.V. (BMV: ALSEA *) the leading operator of Quick Service Restaurants, Coffee Shops, and Casual Dining establishments in Latin America announces that, it has reached an agreement with the shareholders of Food Service Project S.L. ("Grupo Zena") to acquire 71.76% of the Spanish group. The closing of the transaction is subject to certain closing conditions.
Founded in 1971, Grupo Zena is the leading operator and owner of multi-brand restaurants in Spain. The operation of Grupo Zena includes a total of 427 restaurants in Spain (284 own and 143 franchised) out of which 195 are "Foster's Hollywood", 127 "Domino's Pizza", 60 "Burger King", 21 "Cañas y Tapas", 13 "La Vaca Argentina", and 11 units of "il Tempietto". The acquisition includes 4 brands owned by Grupo Zena ("Foster's Hollywood", "La Vaca Argentina", "Cañas y Tapas" and "il Tempietto"), and the master franchise of Domino's Pizza in Spain.
Grupo Zena, with over 40 years of experience in Spain and a highly experienced management team that has obtained solid results and a successful growth strategy, represents for Alsea an opportunity to acquire the leading restaurant operator in the Spanish market, increasing its geographical diversification and generating new growth paths with a project that already has economies of scale.
Grupo Zena in the last twelve months to June 2014 had sales of €264 million euros, with an EBITDA of €32 million euros, representing an EBITDA margin of 12%. At the end of June 2014, Grupo Zena had a total debt of approximately €115 million euros.
Based on the agreement, Alsea will acquire 71.76% of Grupo Zena for an approximate amount of €107 million euros, which implies an enterprise value to last twelve months EBITDA of 8.1 times. The transaction will be carried out with bank debt in Mexican pesos, through a five year credit agreement for an amount of approximately $1,900 million pesos. Furthermore, Alsea is analyzing different opportunities to refinance Grupo Zena's existing debt.
In addition to the 427 restaurants, the operation comprises: (i) two industrial kitchens, one dedicated to the production of desserts and another one where the supply of meat and sauces is centralized; (ii) a plant for the production of fresh dough for Domino's Pizza; (iii) the intellectual property rights of the owned brands, menus, product development, operation processes and others; (iv) the franchise rights that Grupo Zena has with Domino's Pizza and Burger King.
Fabian Gosselin, Chief Executive Officer of Alsea commented: "Through this acquisition we enter a new market with the leading operator, which strongly complements our growth and diversification strategy. As well, we enter a long-term project with the necessary dimensions to add value for Alsea". Fabian also added: "We see as an important benefit the fact that Grupo Zena has a management team that not only has extensive experience in the Spanish market, but has also shown strong results in recent years. We are confident that this factor, along with the capabilities of Alsea's Model will be essential to meet our growth plans and further strengthen the leading position of our brands".
BBVA Bancomer has acted as exclusive financial advisor in the acquisition. Also, Alsea has had Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira as legal external advisor and EY for the financial, tax and labor due diligences.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that reflect the current views and/or expectations of Alsea and its
management with respect to its performance, business and future events. We use words such as "believe", "anticipate", "plan", "expect", "intend", "target", "estimate", "project", "predict", "forecast", "guideline", "should" and other similar expressions to iden tify forward-looking
statements, but they are not the only way we identify such statements. Such statements are subject to a number of risks, unce rtainties and assumptions. We caution you that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materiall y from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in this release. Alsea is under no obligation and expressly disc laims any intention or obligation to update or revised any forward-looking statements, whether as a results of new information, future events or otherwise.
About AlseaAlsea is the largest restaurant operator in Latin America of global leading brands in the quick service, coffee shop and casu al dining segments. It has a diversified portfolio, with brands such as D omino's Pizza, Starbucks, Burger King, Chili's Grill & Bar, California Pizza Kitchen, P.F. Chang's, Pei-W ei, Italianni's, The Cheesecake Factory, Vips and El Portón. The company operates more than 2,200 units in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Brazil. Alsea's business model includes support for its brands through a Shared Services Center that provides all of the Administrative and Development Processes, as well as the Supply Ch ain. The Company has more than
50,000 employees in five countries. Alsea has the distinctive as a "Socially Responsible Company" and is one of the top 20 "Best Places
to W ork" in Mexico.
For more information visit: www.alsea.com.mx
Its shares are traded on the Mexican Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ALSEA* Diego Gaxiola Cuevas Chief Financial Officer Telephone: (5255) 5241-7151 ri@alsea.com.mx|
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