Canadian franchisor MTY to buy Country StyleCanadian franchisor MTY to buy Country Style

Alan J. Liddle

SAINT-LAURENT Quebec Multibrand Canadian quick-service franchisor MTY Food Group Inc. said Monday it had a binding agreement to acquire Country Style Food Services Holdings Inc., the Ontario region’s second-largest bakery-cafe chain.

The acquisition is being consummated by MTY’s wholly owned subsidiary MTY Tiki Ming Enterprises Inc., which is buying Country Style from CAI Capital Partners, a Montreal-based private-equity firm. MTY said the amount of the transaction would be disclosed at the anticipated May 1 closing of the deal.

Richmond Hill, Ontario-based Country Style operates four and franchises to others 110 conventional and 360 in-store kiosk and nontraditional Country Style coffee-and-sandwich locations. Country Style also franchises to others 16 Buns Master locations. According to MTY, Country Style has annual systemwide sales of about $77.4 million.

Country Style is the second-largest bakery-cafe chain in the Ontario region, trailing only 3,000-plus-unit Tim Hortons. The Country Style acquisition will give MTY 21 proprietary foodservice brands for franchising, in addition to the four it licenses from others for refranchising, and bring the number of locations its controls across Canada to 1,500, MTY officials said. MTY added that with Country Style in its portfolio, the targeted aggregate annual systemwide sales of all of its brands would rise to about $358.3 million.

“With the acquisition of Country Style, the company seizes the opportunity to strengthen its position and foothold in the Ontario quick-service franchise industry and launches itself as a major player in the coffee and sandwich segment, and is well positioned to further growth in both office towers, and non-traditional stores,” MTY officials said in a written statement.

The pending Country Style purchase follows MTY’s October acquisition from Ken Pattenden and Aarol Pattenden the assets of Calgary, Alberta-based Taco Time of Canada Inc., the exclusive Canadian franchisor of the Taco Time quick-service Mexican restaurant concept owned by Kahala Corp. of Scottsdale, Ariz. MTY said at the time of the transaction, which was valued at $6.4 million, Taco Time of Canada oversaw 117 franchised restaurants with aggregate annual sales of $44.5 million.

Among the brands controlled by Saint-Laurent, Quebec-based MTY, which has a large presence in food courts, are Caferama, La Crémière, Tandori, Thai Express, Tutti Frutti, Vanelli’s Fresh Italian Foods and Villa Madina.

Contact Alan J. Liddle at [email protected].