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KFC Thailand may be put up for sale by its local franchisee, Restaurants Development Company Limited. It was reported that the RD is considering the sale of its franchise business which is valued at around $300 million.
As per Reuters, there are business insiders who are familiar with the matter, and they said that as the economy of the country slowly bounces back, the revenue of RD also rebounded, but it is still exploring the sale of its KFC business.
It was said that the Bangkok-headquartered franchisee of KFC Thailand is backed by a strong consortium of investors led by AIGF Advisors Pte Ltd, a private equity firm focusing on Southeast Asia. The source revealed the company is in talks with at least one advisor on the possible sale of its fried chicken restaurant chain.
Based on its LinkedIn profile, RD currently operates more than 240 KFC outlets in Thailand and employs over 4,000 employees. However, it was learned that the company was actually mulling the sale of its KFC business since 2020. According to the insiders, at that time, the sale was already in process, but it was put off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The sale talks were revived after the company’s consumer confidence in the Thai market picked up in June for the first time in six months. This development improved the economic condition as the restrictions related to the pandemic were eased up. RD also achieved its highest quarterly sales ever in the first quarter of this year, which also turned out to be its highest annual same-store sales growth rate.
With the economic recovery and travel restrictions being slowly lifted, Restaurant Development expects that its KFC business will grow further in the next quarters. Now, with the sale being considered, sources shared that there are two potential buyers, and these are The QSR of Asia Co Ltd. and the Central Restaurants Group.
Finally, Thai Beverage, which runs the QSR of Asia, declined to comment about KFC Thailand’s sales talk. The Central Group could not be reached as well for comments.
