Freshii, the struggling chain of healthy fast-casual restaurants, has completed its sale to the Montreal-based franchisor Foodtastic.
The deal, at CA$2.30 per share—or CA$74.4 million ($54.5 million U.S.) will make the 343-unit Freshii a subsidiary of Foodtastic, which operates several different brands, mot notably Pita Pit.
Freshii will give Foodtastic 1,200 locations in Canada and 150 locations outside that country, most of them in the U.S.
Shareholders of Freshii had previously approved the deal, which had the backing of the chain’s founder, Matthew Corrin.
Freshii, once touted as being worth $1 billion, went public in Toronto and immediately struggled, with its per-share price falling below $1. The pandemic did the company few favors, hammering the lunch business in urban areas that had become Freshii’s bread and butter.
Corrin stepped aside last year to run a company that outsources counter-service order taking. Freshii agreed to the Foodtastic deal later in the year.
Freshii generated $135 million in system sales in 2021, according to Restaurant Business sister company Technomic. Freshii reported a $4.2 million loss in the third quarter. Franchisees operate all 340 of the chain’s locations.
Daniel Haroun, named CEO of Freshii last year, has said that the deal with Foodtastic would improve Freshii’s potential for growth and could generate additional opportunities, particularly with the consumer packaged goods business that his company had focused on in recent years.
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