American pizza restaurant chain, Papa John’s, is ramping up its expansion in China with 1350 stores slated to open by 2040 in partnership with FountainVest Partners.
The partnership marks Papa John’s largest master franchise deal globally yet and is expected to further increase its influence in one of the world’s fastest-growing pizza-delivery markets.
“This partnership with FountainVest marks another major milestone in achieving Papa John’s’ global growth potential,” said Rob Lynch, president and CEO of Papa John’s. “Papa Johns has enormous global development whitespace in the US and attractive growth markets, especially relative to our peers.”
FountainVest has also acquired a majority stake in the current Papa John’s franchisee, CFB Group, which owns and operates approximately 160 restaurants in Shanghai and across southern China.
“Our new development agreement with FountainVest alone stands to grow Papa Johns current global unit count by 25 per cent,” Lynch added.
According to Papa John’s, during the first three quarters of last year, the chain recorded positive sales growth and significantly accelerated unit growth. As of last September, the pizza chain has more than 5500 restaurants in 50 countries and territories. In recent years, Papa John’s has entered 15 new markets, including Spain, Portugal, Germany, Cambodia, Pakistan, France and Poland.
“Our investment process begins by identifying growth-oriented, industry-leading enterprises that are aligned with the growth dynamics of the Chinese marketplace,” said Andrew Huang, MD of FountainVest.
“Papa John’s premium position offers an attractive opportunity in the QSR sector, which has already been proven in China and which we believe will continue to thrive.”
