Wingstop Restaurants Inc. (NASDAQ:WING), the award-winning wing
concept with 1,031 locations worldwide, today announced that it is
extending its global reach by expanding into the European market.
The Company entered into an international agreement with Lemon
Pepper Holdings Ltd. (LPH), which is set to open 100 locations in
the United Kingdom over the next 12 years with the first restaurant
set to open by year’s end.
Rita Sharma OBE, founder and CEO of luxury
travel empire Bestattravel.co.uk, will back the newly established
LPH. Other partners involved on the board include Saul Lewin and
Boris Kofman of V2 Leisure, which was involved in launching Novikov
in the United Kingdom in 2011 and brokered many of London’s high
profile restaurant openings, including Sumosan Twiga, Park Chinois,
and most recently opened MNKY HSE in Mayfair; as well as Tom
Grogan, co-founder of Lutti London, a privately owned real estate
investment group.
“My family and I are very excited to bring
Wingstop to the United Kingdom,” says Sharma. “We have been
assessing an investment into the food and beverage sector for some
time and believe Wingstop is the right opportunity with the right
team involved. Wingstop brings a new and exciting option to an
underserved chicken category within the overall U.K. food
sector.”
Wingstop will be the first fast casual
restaurant for the newly established group; the founders have
created a very strong operational team, advisory council and
support structure with U.K. experience in brands such as Shake
Shack, Five Guys, Pret a Manger, Cote Brasserie and Jamie Oliver’s
Italian.
“The European market represents a significant
international growth opportunity for Wingstop and a meaningful next
step on our path to becoming a top 10 restaurant brand, meeting
both franchisee interest and consumer demand,” said Larry Kruguer,
President of International at Wingstop. “Lemon Pepper Holdings Ltd.
has shown that they are very in tune to the type of brand
experience the U.K. consumer is looking for, and we are thrilled to
have them join the Wingstop family. Rita Sharma is one of the most
respected entrepreneurs in Britain and has built a highly
successful company from the ground up. We look forward to working
with LPH as we serve Europe – and the world – flavor.”
LPH will focus its efforts on adapting Wingstop
to the United Kingdom, paying close attention to customer
experience, branding and fit out, including a number of exciting
architectural design adaptations that should have positive effects
for the rest of Europe.
Wingstop is a U.S. based restaurant brand with a
sole focus on freshly prepared, cooked-to-order, hand-sauced and
tossed chicken wings and side dishes. The United Kingdom will mark
the tenth international market outside of the United States, but
the Company’s first foray into Europe. For more information on
Wingstop franchising, visit
www.wingstop.com/own-a-wingstop/.
About Wingstop Founded in 1994
and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ:WING)
operates and franchises 1,031 restaurants across the United States,
Mexico, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and the United Arab
Emirates. The Wing Experts’ menu features classic and boneless
wings with 11 bold, distinctive flavors including Original Hot,
Cajun, Atomic, Mild, Teriyaki, Lemon Pepper, Hawaiian, Garlic
Parmesan, Hickory Smoked BBQ, Louisiana Rub, and Mango Habanero.
Wingstop’s wings are always cooked to order, hand-sauced and tossed
and served with a variety of house-made sides including fresh-cut,
seasoned fries. Having grown its domestic same store sales for 13
consecutive years, the Company has been ranked #3 on the “Top 100
Fastest Growing Restaurant Chains” by Nation’s Restaurant News
(2016), #7 on the “Top 40 Fast Casual Chains” by Restaurant
Business (2016), and was named “Best Franchise Deal in North
America” by QSR magazine (2014). Wingstop was ranked #88 on
Fortune’s 100 Best Medium Workplaces list in October 2016. For more
information visit www.wingstop.com or
www.wingstopfranchise.com. Follow us on facebook.com/Wingstop
and Twitter @Wingstop.
Certain statements contained in this news
release, as well as other information provided from time to time by
Wingstop Inc. or its employees, may contain forward looking
statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those in the forward
looking statements. You can identify forward-looking statements by
the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current
facts. These statements may include words such as “guidance,”
“anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “project,” “plan,”
“intend,” “believe,” “confident,” “may,” “should,” “can have,”
“likely,” “future” and other words and terms of similar meaning in
connection with any discussion of the timing or nature of future
operating or financial performance or other events.
Any such forward looking statements are not
guarantees of performance or results, and involve risks,
uncertainties (some of which are beyond the Company’s control) and
assumptions. Although we believe any forward-looking statements are
based on reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many
factors could affect our actual financial results and cause them to
differ materially from those anticipated in any forward-looking
statements. Please refer to the risk factors discussed in our Form
10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, which can be found at
the SEC’s website www.sec.gov. The discussion of these risks is
specifically incorporated by reference into this news release.
Any forward-looking statement made by Wingstop
Inc. in this press release speaks only as of the date on which it
is made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking
statement, whether as a result of new information, future
developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.
Media Contact
Brian Bell
972-707-3956
bbell@wingstop.com
Investor Contact
Raphael Gross
203-682-8253
raphael.gross@icrinc.com
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