Egypt is about to get the meats.
Arby’s Restaurant Group on Tuesday announced an agreement with Vantage Egypt to build 50 locations in the country as the company looks to expand more aggressively in international markets.
That’s a big deal for a chain that for the most part has little presence outside the U.S. Of Arby’s more than 3,300 locations, just 127 of them are in international countries.
But the Atlanta-based company is eager to change that. Earlier this year, Arby’s signed a 10-unit deal in Canada. Last year, the company announced a development agreement in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia that was the chain’s first international deal since 2010.
The first unit is expected to open in Egypt in 2018.
“We are determined to make Arby’s one of the most successful restaurant concepts in the Egyptian market,” Mohamed Halawa, owner of Vantage Egypt, said in a statement. Halawa founded Vantage Egypt for Tourism and Entertainment in 2006, and the company currently operates Papa John’s in the country, among other restaurant brands.
The deal follows a remarkable stretch for Arby’s, which has seen its system sales grow 20% since 2013 to $3.7 billion. Average unit volumes over that period have increased 27% to $1.12 million. The chain’s same-store sales have increased six straight years through 2016.
Meanwhile, the Roark Capital Group-owned Arby’s recently agreed to acquire the Minneapolis-based chicken wing chain Buffalo Wild Wings.
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