Hostmore PLC — a United Kingdom-based master franchisee of casual-dining chain TGI Fridays established in 2021 — is filing for administration and has put its 87 stores up for sale as the company struggles with mounting debts. The company announced it was going into administration — roughly the U.K. equivalent of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy — less than two weeks after its planned reverse takeover of Dallas-based franchisor, TGI Fridays, fell through.
The all-share merger would have combined the U.K. franchisee with its U.S.-based parent company in a $220 million USD deal. Now, according to reporting by the BBC and Reuters, after filing for administrative insolvency, Hostmore PLC is hoping to complete the sale of its 87 restaurants by the end of September, as more than 4,500 jobs hang in the balance. As previously reported, Hostmore said it didn’t expect to “recover any meaningful value for its ownership.”
"The sale process remains ongoing, with no decisions having been made to close any existing stores, and TGI Fridays continues to operate normally across the country," a Hostmore spokesperson told the BBC.
In a troubling sign for Hostmore, which is the largest franchisee of TGI Fridays in the U.K., the company’s website appears to have been taken down. Reuters reported that the company struggled to profit from its TGI Fridays stores and repeated reported losses forced the company to pause new store openings, sell stores, and implement cuts, inevitably causing the Hostmore merger with its parent company to fall through. After the deal’s dissolution, shares of Hostmore plummeted more than 90% on the London Stock Exchange, and the company is expected to be delisted soon.
Hostmore’s parent company, TGI Fridays, has had a tumultuous year. Last year, the company had three CEOs in the span of three months, with Weldon Spangler replacing Brandon Coleman III just two months after Coleman was hired and then abruptly resigned “for personal reasons.” Earlier this year, Fridays closed 36 underperforming units, before agreeing to merge with Hostmore in April in a deal that never happened.
TGI Fridays did not respond to request for comment in time for publication.
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