French, Spanish Chains Bought By AmRest

AmRest, which runs KFC, Pizza Hut and Starbucks franchises in Europe and Russia, and has its own brands in Spain and France, is bent on making its name better known across the continent. Earlier this year, the company moved its headquarters from Poland to Spain, and in July, it acquired three foodservice operations.

After signing a binding agreement to buy the Spain-based burger chain, Bacoa, and its six “better burger” restaurants in Madrid and Barcelona, AmRest inked a purchase agreement with Telepizza to take over operations of its stores in Poland. AmRest will acquire 36 own restaurants and at the same time become the operator of 71 Telepizza franchises.

It capped the month by buying Sushi Shop Group, which operates sushi restaurants mainly in France, for about $281 million. The Paris-based company runs restaurants in 11 other countries including Great Britain, Italy and Spain.

AmRest also announced that it would invest more than $28 million in Glovo, a Spanish delivery startup.