American casual-dining chain TGI Fridays announced plans to merge with its UK franchisee Hostmore before making its public debut on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker “TGIF.”
The all-share deal to take TGI Fridays public is valued at roughly $220 million, CNBC earlier reported.
The restaurant’s headquarters for both its national and international operations will stay in Dallas, Texas, and its CEO Weldon Spangler will keep his top role.
“This transaction represents the next step in our journey as it increases our corporate-owned restaurant locations and provides capital to expand our presence globally,” Spangler said in a press release on the merger Tuesday.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many additional locations TGI Fridays is slated to open.
There are already more than 600 TGI Fridays outposts across 44 countries, including roughly 233 in the US as well as locations across South America, the UK and Asia.
When the merger is complete, the new joint company would be responsible for just 189 restaurants in the US and UK, according to CNBC. All of the other locations are owned by independent franchisees.
If approved by regulators, the deal with Hostmore — the Sussex-based hospitality company best known for operating American-themed casual bars and restaurants — is expected to close in the third quarter.
The Post has sought comment from TGI Fridays and Hostmore.
TGI Fridays has been trying to make its public debut since 2019, announcing at the time that it was planning on merging with special purpose acquisition company Allegro Merger, which would have injected the restaurant chain with $30 million in cash and stock.
TriArtisan Capital Advisors — which also has stakes in PF Chang’s and Hooters — bought TGI Fridays from longtime owner Carlson Restaurants in 2014 in a deal reportedly valued at more than $800 million, was reportedly set to exchange most of its ownership for shares of Allegro as part of the IPO.
However, the deal fell apart upon the breakout COVID-19, which slammed financial markets and the dining industry, CNBC earlier reported.
Since then, TGI Fridays has closed 36 “underperforming” restaurants across the US — five of which are in New York — as part on an “ongoing growth strategy.”
The shuttered locations spanned 12 states, including seven in New Jersey, six in Massachusetts, five in New York and four in Texas and Virginia.
There were also closures in California, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, plus two in Colorado — the state’s only two TGI Fridays locations.
“As part of the closures, TGI Fridays is offering more than 1,000 transfer opportunities, which represents over 80% of total impacted employees,” the company announced at the time of the abrupt closures in January.
In addition, when the company revealed the surprise closures, it also said eight previously corporate-owned restaurants in the Northeast will be sold to former CEO Ray Blanchette.
Blanchette served as the chief of TGI Fridays for five years, resigning in May 2023 as the restaurant chain — creator of the popular Loaded Potato Skins appetizer — “entered a new phase of revitalization.”