FT Foods Limited, a newly incorporated Company owned by Fazan Tahir, has recently completed the multi-million-pound acquisition of 7 KFC restaurants in London. The restaurants were acquired from KFC UK & Ireland, forming part of its wider refranchising programme. The acquirer was advised by sector specialists, Smith Cooper Corporate Finance.
FT Foods is part of a wider grouping of companies created by the successful Tahir Group, a London-based property development and investment group operating KFC restaurants and Starbucks Coffee shops. The group was started up in 1978, Fazan entering the business in the mid-1990s and quickly developing to become the principal executive operator. Under his stewardship the KFC operations have grown faster organically than any other franchisee-owned business in London and, since the early 1980s, have won a continuous stream of operational and customer-service awards. The family businesses now very successfully operate 25 KFC restaurants.
Food and beverage specialists, John Farnsworth and David Crump, at Smith Cooper Corporate Finance assisted FT Foods in developing a bid document, agreeing terms with KFC’s advisers and project-managing the transaction through to completion.
Commenting on the transaction, Fazan Tahir said “this deal is a significant step in my journey from my start in 1994 to what is today a multi-award-winning, multi-million-pound sales KFC business. I am very proud of our innovation, numerous awards and my outstanding team with its best-in-class culture. We intend to take the acquired restaurants forward and to add additional outlets, just as we always have done. He continued, “as to the deal process that has been a huge project that I couldn’t have completed without my internal team, the management at KFC, Michael Stace and his team at Browne Jacobson, and the Smith Cooper Corporate Finance team. I have known John and David for some time and contacted them right at the start of this process; that turned out to be a key decision and I was tremendously impressed by the professionalism, determination and focus they brought to the delivery of their invaluable input”.
Smith Cooper, a leading advisory and accountancy firm, operate from 5 offices and employ around 200 staff. Its award-winning Corporate Finance division, which recently won the Midlands Insider Corporate Advisory Team of the Year 2018 award has specialisms including food and beverage, retail and franchising.
Head of Corporate Finance, John Farnsworth, commented “David and I are delighted to have worked with Fazan, his team and advisers, and with KFC and their advisers to secure this important acquisition for the Tahir Group.
We really enjoyed working with Fazan’s highly-motivated award-winning team, and have no doubt whatever that the business will continue to grow at an exemplary pace whilst still maintaining top operational and service quality – this is an exceptional business”. David Crump added “it is easy to see why the Tahir’s selected KFC as their flagship brand; owned by Yum! Brands, an international business that also operates the Taco Bell and Pizza Hut brands, KFC is one of the world’s most recognisable brands. It was started by Colonel Sanders in the 1950s, since growing a portfolio of over 21,000 restaurants globally”. It is undoubtedly a leader in the QSR field”.
Smith Cooper is one of the largest independently owned and preferred accountancy and business advisory firms for owner managed businesses across the Midlands. The firm specialises in providing intelligent, efficient and cost-effective bespoke advisory services to both corporate and individual clients. Smith Cooper has six offices across the Midlands including Derby, Birmingham and Nottingham.
