GBK owner Famous Brands has updated on the burger chain’s Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) process.
The CVA, which was approved by creditors on 9 November, has now passed the challenge period with no objections raised, the listed South African company said.
It said that currently 14 of the 17 “severely under- performing” restaurants identified as part of the process have ceased trading. The group said that while the other three sites have improved their performance, they remain under review, pending further action.
The group has also refinanced, with effect from 10 December, as Famous Brands seeks to restructure GBK’s debt profile to better align with its current requirements.
In a statement, Famous Brands said: “The board is satisfied that the CVA programme will achieve its goal of promoting the long-term financial viability and sustainability of the GBK business.”
In its most recent trading update, for the 26 weeks to 26 August, GBK reported like-for-like sales down 9.7%.
Famous Brands said that notwithstanding the effect of the difficult macroeconomic climate on the GBK business, management identified several areas at the end of the prior financial year as requiring urgent attention. These included: operational benchmarks which no longer met gold standards; the need for improved customer engagement across the offering; sub‐optimal management capacity; and lack of traction in key growth areas, including the delivery component.
Precis
GBK owner Famous Brands has updated on the burger chain’s Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) process. The CVA, which was approved by creditors on 9 November, has now passed the challenge period with no objections raised, the listed South African company said. It said that currently 14 of the 17 “severely under- performing” restaurants identified as part of the process have ceased trading. The group said that while the other three sites have improved their performance, they remain under review, pending further action. The group has also refinanced, with effect from 10 December, as Famous Brands seeks to restructure GBK’s debt profile to better align with its current requirements. In a statement, Famous Brands said: “The board is satisfied that the CVA programme will achieve its goal of promoting the long-term financial viability and sustainability of the GBK business.”
