Leisure & Hospitality Saudi’s Jadwa buys Dubai-based owner of Allo Beirut By Pramod Kumar December 19, 2023, 4:51 AM Black Spoon Group Black Spoon plans to franchise over 30 new Allo Beirut outlets over the next five years, primarily focusing on Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia’s Jadwa Investment has acquired the Dubai-based food and beverage operator Black Spoon Group. The Riyadh-headquartered investment management and advisory firm acquired 100 percent of Black Spoon through its food and beverage opportunities fund. Black Spoon’s portfolio comprises 10 branches across three popular restaurant chains in the UAE, including its Lebanese casual dining flagship brand, Allo Beirut. Jadwa acquires stake in Gissah Perfumes Food inflation leads to rise of Gulf discount operators Customer-centric won’t cut it. Food firms must be ‘customer obsessed’ The food chain recently launched a GCC expansion plan to franchise more than 30 new Allo Beirut outlets over the next five years, primarily focusing on Saudi Arabia. The transaction marks Jadwa’s 16th private equity investment since its inception and its second acquisition in the consumer sector this year, after the purchase of a 35 percent stake in Gissah Perfumes Company. “This investment is an extension of our strategy to capitalise on the increasingly attractive consumer sector across the GCC, which has begun to reap the fruits of transformational government initiatives, a young and growing population, and rising income levels,” said Tariq Al-Sudairy, managing director and CEO of Jadwa Investment. Jadwa Investment manages client assets worth SAR75 billion ($20 billion) in public equity, private equity, real estate, private credit, fixed income, and money market investments.
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