TORIDOLL’s subsidiary Great Sea Kitchens to acquire Fulham Shore for £93.4 million

LONDON, UK: Great Sea Kitchens Limited, a newly-incorporated company established on behalf of TORIDOLL Holdings Corporation, has made an all cash offer to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Fulham Shore for 14.15 pence in cash for each Fulham share valuing the company at approximately £93.4 million on a fully diluted basis.

Fulham Shore’s restaurants offer a leading customer proposition – providing authentic, high-quality food and drinks at affordable prices. In spite of the challenging trading circumstances of recent years, Fulham Shore has continued to deliver robust performance overseen by its highly experienced management team.

Fulham Shore is well positioned to continue to benefit from favourable market trends, particularly an anticipated growth in demand for Italian cuisine, and that its differentiated operating model will put Fulham Shore at the forefront of that growth.

Great Sea Kitchens also recognises the significant opportunity for Fulham Shore to expand its presence in the UK (where Fulham Shore’s 97 sites reflect an under penetration compared to peers), internationally (where Great Sea Kitchens believes the strength of Fulham Shore’s brands and product offering will resonate well) and through retail channels (where Franco Manca’s nascent offering of cook-at-home pizzas is demonstrating encouraging progress).

Great Sea Kitchens believes that, alongside the wider TORIDOLL group and Capdesia Group Limited (“Capdesia”), it is the right partner to help Fulham Shore deliver on that growth opportunity – bringing a unique combination of expertise, industry knowledge and a demonstrable track record of growing restaurant brands that will support Fulham Shore’s management team as they implement the business’ expansion strategy.

Commenting on the Acquisition, Takaya Awata, President and CEO of TORIDOLL, said: “Fulham Shore has two exciting and fast growing brands that are aligned with TORIDOLL’s slogan of “Filling Our Planet with Dining Experiences that will Move You.

We are confident that both have the potential for significant future growth, domestically and internationally. Together with the strength of these brands and our partnership with restaurant sector specialist fund Capdesia, we have the opportunity to leverage our combined expertise and significant resources to accelerate their growth even further. We look forward to working closely with Fulham Shore’s management and employees as we embark on the next stage of the company’s growth.”