Muscle Maker Grill Provides Shareholder Update
October 15 2020 - 8:30AM
Muscle Maker, Inc. (Nasdaq: GRIL) As a newly public company,
we feel it is important to provide open dialog and updates to our
investors, in order to keep everyone abreast of the execution on
our commitment to our non-traditional location growth strategy.
After the market close on October 14th, the Company published, via
an 8K filing, a detailed investor update letter. This update letter
is meant as a progress report regarding where we are today and
where we hope to be in the near future. To access the detailed 8K
filing, please visit the sec.gov site under company filings and
Muscle Maker, Inc or click here:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1701756/000149315220019443/form8-k.htm
While nearly everyone has been impacted in some
way from COVID, we see opportunity within the recent economic
dislocation. We have seen an increased focus on, and an
acceleration in, the adoption of our health-oriented offering
throughout our conversations with larger non-traditional channels.
An intended use of proceeds from our mid-February IPO was allocated
to the continued expansion on the military front. With the opening
of Camp Elmore we have remained committed to what we feel is a
large and unique opportunity in the military. The pandemic has
slowed this growth path, but the plan is still very much intact and
we are beginning to see movement on that front, and hope to
continue our expansion there very soon. To support those efforts,
we have nominated Major General (retired) Malcolm Frost for a seat
on our board; if successfully voted in, he will help steward our
military expansion plans, not only with the Army, but throughout
all of the branches of the Armed Forces.
A second area of non-traditional growth focus is
a planned geographic expansion via the “Ghost Kitchen” model, while
this had started pre-COVID, it has been greatly accelerated and
emphasized as a result of our current environment. We continue to
feel that this is an excellent opportunity, not only for the
immediate future, but one that matches the changing dynamics of the
industry. We were early movers in this area and formed a
relationship with one of the largest and best funded players in
this sector. We have previously announced an initial 10 location
commitment to the “Ghost Kitchen” delivery-only model and have
since signed leases for nine of these locations. We currently have
opened three ghost kitchen locations with another four locations
under construction and anticipated to open over the next quarter.
We continue to hold discussions with several ghost kitchen
companies and identify new locations to support our growth
initiatives. Our plan currently calls for an additional 30+ ghost
kitchens across multiple geographic markets. Ghost kitchens are a
capital-light, company-owned expansion opportunity by which we can
significantly increase our footprint, geographic reach and brand
awareness in a way that we feel better fits both the current
environment and the future of the quick service restaurant segment.
We believe ghost kitchens are highly disruptive to the restaurant
industry especially given the current Covid-19 climate and the
growing need for off-premise food services and delivery. As an
extension of this concept, we recently announced a pilot agreement
with Reef Technology. Reef’s standalone kitchens are located in
neighborhoods which are underserved by traditional delivery methods
and will complement our ghost kitchen portfolio nicely. Reef is
different from our other Ghost Kitchen relationships as they
operate under a licensing agreement, which requires no capital
outlay by Muscle Maker. We are hopeful that the pilot program,
which gets under way in November/December can lead to a more
in-depth relationship.
A third area of our non-traditional growth path
includes universities. To date we have announced five location
wins, recently opening two locations on the NOVA Community College
Campus in Virginia and we intend to open Texas Tech by year end.
Universities, like the Military opportunity, are an ideal strategic
and demographic fit, as gaining access provides a high barrier to
entrance on the competitive front, and student populations present
large captive audiences with less economic sensitivity. The
nation-wide opportunity for expansion throughout the University
systems is something we intend to focus intensely on, and we
anticipate having more to update investors on in this regard in the
immediate future.
This month we successfully raised an additional
$5.6m of equity to further strengthen our balance sheet, and to
ensure that we are well capitalized to execute on our in-hand
opportunities. Some of these opportunities have been previously
announced and we will continue to provide updates as we continue to
see our pipeline of attractive non-traditional opportunities grow.
While our focus will remain on the non-traditional niche, the
significant dislocation experienced by the entire restaurant
industry has also began to present inorganic opportunities that may
offer a more rapid and accretive growth path relative to our
currently presented plans. This is not to say that we would pivot
away from our organic expansion, but rather, look to augment that
growth if the opportunity to buy vs build presents better economics
and strategic synergies.
Ours is an execution story, and through that
continued execution and expansion, we will look forward to creating
sustainable value for all of our shareholders. Today’s shareholder
update should be indicative of our desire to keep investors
informed and aware of all of our corporate developments and we will
continue to do so, in order that everyone can build their own clear
picture of the opportunity. Again, a more detailed and expanded
shareholder update letter is available on the sec.gov website with
the latest 8K filing.
In closing, I would like to extend my personal
appreciation to all of our employees, franchise owners, customers
and shareholders for continuing to support our Company during these
unprecedented times. We wish everyone and their families continued
safety and good health.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may include “forward-looking
statements” pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. To the extent
that the information presented in this press release discusses
financial projections, information, or expectations about our
business plans, results of operations, products or markets, or
otherwise makes statements about future events, such statements are
forward-looking. Such forward-looking statements can be identified
by the use of words such as “should”, “may,” “intends,”
“anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “projects,” “forecasts,”
“expects,” “plans,” and “proposes.” Although we believe that the
expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are
based on reasonable assumptions, there are a number of risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from such forward-looking statements. You are urged to carefully
review and consider any cautionary statements and other
disclosures, including the statements made under the heading “Risk
Factors” and elsewhere in documents that we file from time to time
with the SEC. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date
of the document in which they are contained, and Muscle Maker, Inc
does not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking
statements except as may be required by law.
Contact:
Muscle Maker Grill Marketing:
marketing@musclemakergrill.com
Investor Relations: IR@musclemakergrill.com
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