Dubai-based regional restaurant operating company, Eathos, has acquired sushi restaurant chain SushiArt.
The company also has franchise rights for Kababji Grill, Tortilla Mexican Grill and Rita’s Ice; however, this marks Eathos’ first acquisition.
Eathos CFO and business development director Nadim Majdalani said: "This is our first acquisition, successfully meeting our investment criteria in terms of profitability, operational excellence and readiness for expansion. We strongly believe in the brand’s remaining rollout potential in the UAE, as well as its upcoming success across the GCC, Egypt and Lebanon."
SushiArt co-founder Cedric Cerf will remain on the management team to manage the transition period, whilst Eathos takes over the operational management and plans the expansion.
The next UAE SushiArt restaurant has been secured in Dubai Motor City, in parallel with the first steps into other markets, starting with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with two sites signed in Riyadh and one in Jeddah, expected to launch later in 2016 and in 2017.
Cerf said: "We have successfully brought this premium, innovative concept to the UAE, and after three years of pursuing our Dubai dream, we have found ourselves at a crossroad. To grow SushiArt to its full potential across the region, we required the investment support and the GCC network and experience that Eathos could provide.
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"After months of careful consideration, negotiation and due diligence, we agreed that Eathos presented the right fit for the SushiArt brand, the business and the team. I look forward to working with Eathos during the transition phase.”
SushiArt is the GCC franchisee of global brand Sushi Shop, which was founded in France in 1998 and currently has over 100 branches globally. The brand opened its first Dubai outlet in 2013 in DIFC, and now has four outlets in the UAE.
Adrien de Schompré, co-founder of Sushi Shop Group, noted: “We are very excited about the new opportunities that this transaction offers for our franchise business in the Middle East. We have been extremely proud of and thankful for the great job performed by our first Middle Eastern franchisee, establishing SushiArt as a destination of choice for casual sushi, and look forward to a fruitful collaboration with eathos as they accelerate the rollout and take the brand regional.”
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