A new owner for the troubled Eagle Boys’ Pizza brand is expected to emerge in the next six weeks.
The appointed administrator, SV Partners, has released Information Memorandum to several interested parties and is working to securing a positive outcome over by the end of September.
Don Meij, Domino’s CEO, is the latest franchisor to express interest.
“We are taking a look (at Eagle Boys). It is quite small,” Meij said, according to Inside Retail.
One of those to receive the Information Memorandum, franchisor Stan Gordon, who heads up the Franchised Food Co, reveals he may not be up for the challenge after all.
“We were interested and we briefed solicitors and received an information memorandum but it was superficial at best,” Gordon said on Friday, according to Inside Retail.
“I don’t know now if I want to incur the costs involved in pursuing Eagle Boys.”
Speculation that a private equity firm could be eyeing up the Eagle Boys business alongside a purchase of the Pizza Hut business from Yum, has not been confirmed by SV Partners.
“We have had a large number of interested parties contact us and are now looking for a clear commitment through the due diligence and binding offers stage. Despite recent press articles, we are not preferring any one interested party over another at this point. That decision will be made during the due diligence stage once Expressions of Interest have been received.”
David Stimpson, administrator, and executive director at SV Partners, said “We are operating on a short time frame to minimise interruption to the Eagle Boys business, including that of franchisees.”
The timeline for the sale process:
- 17 August: submission of non-binding Indicative Offers 5pm (Brisbane time)
- 18-31 August: short list parties and host due diligence
- 6 September: submission of final binding offers
- 20 September: documentation/completion
Crowe Horwath Corporate Finance is co-ordinating the sale process.
So who will be the new owner? Could it be an existing franchisor? We’ll have to wait a few weeks to find out.