MTY to acquire Yuzu SushiMTY to acquire Yuzu Sushi

MTY Food Group Inc. announced on Thursday that one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries has signed an agreement to acquire Quebec-based chain Yuzu Sushi. The announcement was made two weeks after the Canadian franchisor completed its $190 million acquisition of take-and-bake pizza chain Papa Murphy’s Holdings In. The Sushi chain is expected to join MTY’s various multi-concept brands including TCBY Frozen Yogurt, Cold Stone Creamery, Baja Fresh, Pinkberry and Planet Smoothie.

"Yuzu Sushi is a young and dynamic brand with a network of committed franchise partners that are just as dynamic,” said Eric Lefebvre, CEO of MTY, in a news release.

“Yuzu Sushi has a customer base that is passionate about gourmet sushi and new products and offers significant growth potential for future years.”

Yuzu Sushi currently has 132 points of sale in operation, according to the news release, including 68 restaurant franchises, 30 franchised express counters, and 34 complementary grocery outlets. Yuzu Sushi operates mainly in Quebec, and system sales totaled more than $40 million in the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018.

“We are very proud to have built a strong, successful network, filled with potential and growth opportunities,” said Steve Morency, one of the current owners of Yuzu Sushi, who will remain at the helm of the brand. “A network with a superb corporate culture where the human is considered first and in which pleasure is part of the DNA of this beautiful Quebec company.”

Frederic Matte, Yuzu Sushi co-owner, said, “100% of our team remains in place, which will assure the continued focus on the mission of Yuzu quality and the great values of this company; Quality, respect, customer focus, innovation, consistency and pleasure.”

Contact Gloria Dawson at [email protected]

Follow her on Twitter: @GloriaDawson