Yum! Brands, Rostik Restaurants Limited form strategic business alliance in Russia and the CIS
Rostik Restaurants would make an investment of up to $100 million over the next five years to support the development of some 300 co-branded Rostik's/KFC restaurants.
27/06/05 Yum! Brands, Inc., the world's largest restaurant company in terms of units, owner of the KFC Brand, and Rostik Restaurants Limited (RRL), owner of Russia's top chicken restaurant chain, are teaming up in a unique strategic business alliance to establish market leadership in the quick service restaurant sector in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), it was announced.
Yum! Restaurants International, the Dallas-based international division of Yum! Brands, and RRL have signed an agreement whereby RRL would make an investment of up to $100 million over the next five years to support the development of some 300 co-branded Rostik's/KFC restaurants. Yum! will provide financial support including the provision of loans and guarantees up to $30 million to support this development. The highly-recognizable and much-loved Rostik's brand name will remain prominent, while the world-renowned KFC brand also will be strategically positioned on restaurant signage. The restaurants will serve both Rostik's local favorites and KFC's world famous chicken products like Original Recipe(R), Twister(R) and Zinger(R) to Russian and CIS consumers.
At the conclusion of this five-year business alliance, Yum! and RRL will have the option to transfer ownership of the Rostik's business to Yum! Alternatively, both parties may choose to maintain the current business arrangement.
Today Rostik's manages 80 restaurants in Russia and CIS. Yum! Brands has 12 licensed KFC restaurants in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Under the agreement, RRL will retain day-to-day operational management, while Yum! Brands will provide strategic support through its experience and technologies in managing international quick service brands.