Wrap Text
Famous Brands Doubles Rest Of Africa Footprint With Acquisition Of 49% Stake In Leading Nigerian Brand, Mr Bigg’s
Famous Brands Limited
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Registration number 1969/004875/06)
JSE Share code: FBR ISIN code: ZAE000053328
(“Famous Brands”)
PRESS INFORMATION
FAMOUS BRANDS DOUBLES REST OF AFRICA FOOTPRINT WITH ACQUISITION
OF 49% STAKE IN LEADING NIGERIAN BRAND, MR BIGG’S
Johannesburg; Monday, 16 September 2013: Famous Brands, the leading quick service
and casual dining restaurant franchisor in Africa, has successfully reached an agreement
with UAC of Nigeria PLC (UAC), a leading diversified conglomerate with operations in foods,
paints, logistics and real estate, to acquire a 49% stake in their hitherto wholly-owned
company UAC Restaurants Limited (UACR). UACR manages the Quick Service Restaurant
(QSR) component of UAC’s business and houses the flagship Mr Bigg’s brand, the single
largest food franchise brand in Africa, north of the South African border. The acquisition
consideration has not been disclosed, and will be funded out of cash reserves. This
transaction falls below the threshold of a categorised transaction in terms of the Listings
Requirements of the JSE Limited (“JSE”).
The deal is effective as at 01 October 2013.
UACR comprises 165 franchised restaurants across Nigeria, 57 of which are in Lagos and 14
in Abuja. 45% of the company’s franchised restaurants and 40% of its revenues are
concentrated in Nigeria's three key commercial centres. UACR also has a small logistics and
manufacturing component.
Famous Brands Chief Executive, Kevin Hedderwick comments, “We are enormously excited
about this transaction, which boosts the Group’s strategy to expand its presence in the
broader African QSR market. Famous Brands has operated in African countries north of
South Africa’s borders for 15 years and we have a good grasp of doing business in those
territories; prudent expansion in a select range of key markets in the region has always been
part of our programme."
“Whilst we have traded in Nigeria for the past 11 years through a combination of Master
License and Franchise Agreements, this transaction catapults us to a completely different
level, enabling us to meaningfully expand our presence in this burgeoning, currently low
consumption per capita organised food service market. It also underlines our ambitious and
deliberate plans to grow our business outside of South Africa. Trading in Africa is inevitably
about being ‘first to market’ and we believe that this transaction represents a significant
step change through which we will further entrench our leadership position within the
branded food service industry in Africa.”
“This joint venture delivers compelling benefits for both parties: UACR will be vending in a
formidable brand (Mr Bigg’s), local expertise and existing franchisees, as well as a
nationwide distribution network and Lagos-based manufacturing infrastructure. In
exchange, Famous Brands will add value to the business through our expertise in managing
intellectual property, growing brands and optimising supply chain operations and
efficiencies,” Hedderwick says.
Notably, Mr Bigg’s has an extensive on-the-ground presence and huge loyal customer base
demonstrated by the 100,000 consumers who visit the brand’s restaurants daily. Mr Bigg’s
trading format consists of quick service restaurants situated on high foot-fall sites, and its
extensive product offering ranges from pastries and other snacks to burgers and hot meals.
About 25,000 pieces of chicken are sold in Mr Bigg’s restaurants daily while some
635,000,000 meat pies have been sold by the brand since its inception.
Hedderwick states, “Historically one of the key challenges of expanding into the rest of
Africa has been to source suitable local partners. This acquisition surmounts that obstacle
and enables us to not only acquire a substantial stake in an existing leading home-grown
brand in Nigeria with opportunities to unlock value in that market, but also to export the
format to other markets. We foresee our operations in the rest of Africa becoming
increasingly significant to the Group over time.”
Larry Ettah, UAC Group Managing Director and CEO, says, “We are delighted to partner
with Famous Brands in this venture. This is a transformative transaction which ensures
UACR has the necessary strategic partner to unlock the considerable value potential in the
QSR landscape which Mr Bigg’s defined 25 years ago and in which it still maintains a
leadership position. UACR will be availed of Famous Brands’ tested and highly successful
brand stewardship to enhance and reinforce the Mr Bigg’s brand franchise market power.
This deal further reinforces UACN’s commitment to ensure we collaborate and leverage
international partnerships to accelerate our strategic growth and progress.”
“Nigeria is an attractive destination for QSRs and the country has seen an influx of
international brands recently. Future consumer expenditure is underpinned by a range of
key drivers, including higher monthly income levels resulting from GDP expansion, an
increase in the minimum wage (from N7500 to N18000), and a shift in social class
demographics, with the middle class (the business’s core target market) expected to
increase to 35% of the population in 2015 compared to 30% in 2009. Significantly, this
middle class comprises a large, young population with an average age of 18.”
Ettah identifies that “Nigeria’s other investment incentives include an increasingly
supportive business environment resulting from continued political and macro-economic
stability coupled with growth positive policies and initiatives. In addition, the country
continues to experience an improvement in efficiency, particularly in the distribution and
manufacturing sectors. This is attracting positive interest from foreign investors with a long
term view of the opportunities.”
Hedderwick concludes, “Our immediate goal is to bed down this joint venture and optimise
on the evident success of the existing operation and its enormous potential within the
Nigerian market.”
------ENDS------
Notes to editors:
Famous Brands is represented by the following brands in the rest of Africa*:
Steers (43), Wimpy (29), Debonairs Pizza (60), Mugg & Bean (8), FishAways (9), Milky Lane (16), Juicy Lucy (1),
O’Hagan’s (3), Keg (1), Europa (1) and Fego Caffé (1).
Famous Brands’ network in the rest of Africa totals 172 restaurants comprising*:
Botswana (28), DRC (3), Ivory Coast (4), Kenya (13), Malawi (4), Mauritius (28), Mozambique (2), Namibia (30),
Nigeria (7), Sudan (5), Swaziland (8), Tanzania (3), UAE (3), Zambia (26) and Zimbabwe (8).
*as at February 2013
For more information visit www.famousbrands.co.za
Famous Brands - You’re in good company
UAC of Nigeria PLC (UAC), a diversified company has for over a century played a prominent role in the
development of Nigeria. UAC’s growth strategy consists in building strong partnerships with leading regional
and international corporations to drive effective business transformation and deliver sustainable growth.
UAC operates through the following subsidiaries:-
. Grand Cereals Limited manufactures and markets Grand Edible Oils, Vital Poultry/Fish Feeds and
Grand Maize Meals.
. UAC Foods Limited, a joint venture business with Tiger Brands Limited of South Africa, offers the
award winning Gala Sausage Roll, Funtime Coconut Chips, Supreme Ice Cream, Delite Fruit Juice, Swan
Bottled Spring Water and drinks and baked maize snacks.
. UAC Restaurants Limited manages the network of Quick Service Restaurants across Nigeria under the
market leading Mr Bigg’s brand.
. MDS Logistics Plc, a joint venture with Imperial Logistics of South Africa, is the leading integrated
supply chain solutions provider in Nigeria with a number of distribution centres across Nigeria.
. UACN Property Development Company Plc (UPDC) is a foremost property development and
management company quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
. CAP Plc, the Akzonobel technical licensee of Dulux, is the leading decorative paint producer in Nigeria.
. Livestock Feeds Plc is an animal feeds operations with mills in key sites across the country.
. Portland Paints and Products Nigeria PLC is a leading paint manufacturer in Nigeria with a strong
brand, broad product range and nationwide distribution network.
For more information visit www.uacnplc.com
Uac … doing good
For further information:
Kevin Hedderwick Del-Maree English
Chief Executive Officer Investor Communications
Famous Brands Mobile: +27 83 395 8608
Telephone: +27 11 651 5812
UACN PLC
Abdul Bello (Chief Financial Officer) abello@uacnplc.com
Bamidele Adewole (Investor Relations) badewole@uacnplc.com
AP (Investor Relations Advisers)
Nick Chambers (africapractice) +234 813 574 3544
Molade Omotoso (africapractice) +234 802 384 8532
Investment Bank and Sponsor
The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited
Date: 16/09/2013 08:00:00 Produced by the JSE SENS Department. The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the JSE Limited ('JSE').
The JSE does not, whether expressly, tacitly or implicitly, represent, warrant or in any way guarantee the truth, accuracy or completeness of
the information published on SENS. The JSE, their officers, employees and agents accept no liability for (or in respect of) any direct,
indirect, incidental or consequential loss or damage of any kind or nature, howsoever arising, from the use of SENS or the use of, or reliance on,
information disseminated through SENS.
Sharenet Sites 
