Rival Burger King franchisee to buy Gowrings

16 November 2004
Rival Burger King franchisee to buy Gowrings

UK Burger King franchisor Gowrings is being bought by rival Caspian for £9.6m.

The recommended cash offer is based on a price of 106p per share.

Gowrings sold its accident repair centres business in June to give it space to focus on its restaurant operations.

It operates 41 Burger Kings in the Midlands and south of England, but despite cost cutting, it remains saddled with high overheads.

However at its half-year results in August it reported narrowing losses, of £832,000 compared with £916,000 last time round.

Caspian is an unlisted private company established in 1993 that operates 12 Burger King restaurants in the south of England, so making Gowrings a good geographical fit.

In the financial year to 28 September 2003, it reported turnover of £9.5m, up from £9.1m the year before, and pre-tax profit of £262,367, against a loss of £83,816 the year before.

Caspian chief executive Taji Nader-Zadeh said: "We believe that the acquisition of Gowrings will enhance the ability of Caspian to exploit opportunities within our core geographical market in the South of England."

by Nic Paton

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