The acquisition of the £14.6m turnover group using private funding from Three Joes’ shareholders will see the pizza maker take a slice of trade in the Midlands, Wales and south-west on top of its estate of three restaurants in Winchester and Fareham, both in Hampshire; and Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
“We’ve been huge fans of The Stable since we launched Three Joes in 2017 and this acquisition represents a significant step forward for us,” Three Joes chief executive and co-founder Tim Hall explained. “The Stable is five times our size and while we are all operating in uncertain times, we are confident the business has a strong future ahead.
“With sites located in harbours, beach fronts and market squares in the south-west and on the coast, the opportunity to add these beautiful sites to our estate was too good to be true. We believe these are the ideal locations to expand Three Joes into while the country recovers from Covid-19 and people choose to take holidays at home in the UK.”
Hall, who co-founded Three Joes in 2017 having previously launched fast food chain Pod, added: “We have inherited a business from Fuller’s in superb condition and concluded this complex transaction in less than a week, allowing us to focus on protecting jobs and reopening the sites as quickly as possible.
“We face a genuine challenge restarting our 14 restaurants but we are confident customers will return and we believe the market will be buoyant by spring 2021. That is the belief Peter, Emma, our shareholders and I have all backed in this deal.”
The Stable was launched in Bridport, Dorset, by Richard and Nikki Cooper in 2009 with Fuller’s acquiring a 51% stake in the then six-site business in June 2014 for £7.3m.
The pub operator acquired a further 24% before completing the acquisition of the remaining stake in June 2018 by which point it had grown to 17 sites.
Three Joes’ acquisition includes The Stable sites in Bath, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bridport, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Falmouth, Newquay, Plymouth, Southampton and Winchester.
“The Stable is a fantastic brand and we are proud to have helped it grow,” Fuller’s chief executive Simon Emeny said of the transaction.
“Three Joes is a company that knows pizza, has a similar ethos and culture, and has a management team we trust to look after The Stable.
“We wish Three Joes every success in taking The Stable on through the next chapter in its history.”
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