Pizza chain New York Pizza is largely sold. One of the largest pizza chains in the Netherlands comes into the hands of the Norwegian conglomerate Orkla, which already owns dozens of brands in the field of food, snacks and personal care. The Norwegians take a 75 percent interest in the chain, which has a value of 145 million euros. The current owners own 25 percent.
According to Philippe Vorst, CEO and co-founder of New York Pizza, the acquisition will allow the chain to grow faster than if the company were trying to do it on its own. The acquisition is still subject to customary approvals. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.
New York Pizza has a total of 232 outlets run by franchisees. Of these, 229 are located in the Netherlands. At the end of last year, a first branch was opened in Leuven, Belgium. In Belgium, at least five more sales points are to be added this year. New York Pizza also has two locations in Cologne, Germany.
Pizza dough
Also part of the agreement is the maker of pizza dough Euro Pizza Products, which also purchases and distributes other pizza ingredients and spices to the points of sale. The dough is already exported to 18 countries. Finnish pizza chain Kotipizza, already owned by Orkla, is the largest external buyer of the dough.
New York Pizza is headquartered in Amstelveen and currently employs 75 people. The company will remain an independent part of Orkla’s Consumer & Financial Investments division. Side by side with Kotipizza, or so it sounds.
New York Pizza sold 11.5 million pizzas last year and generated a turnover of 54.7 million euros. This includes the income from dough production. Since 2008, the chain’s turnover has grown by 12 percent year on year, partly due to the opening of new points of sale, but also by selling more pizzas per branch.
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