Moyo restaurants sold to Fournews
This will result in about 400 jobs being saved and reinvigoration of the brand‚ which has lost its allure as tourists and locals frequent trendier establishments.
Joint business rescue practitioners Stefan Smyth and Alison Timme said on Friday, 4 April 2014, that the plan cemented the deal to sell the Moyo chain to Fournews Developments and was now unconditional‚ resulting in the rapid transfer of the business.
Fournews was established in 1995 and its portfolio includes the News Café‚ Cafe Fino‚ Fusion Foods‚ Smooch‚ GO! and Phat Panda food service brands.
The company‚ which operates on a franchise and company-owned model‚ employs about 3‚000 workers. For the deal‚ Fournews teamed up with an unnamed private equity firm. Moyo was previously owned by Gootspa Investments.
"The impact on the remaining employees‚ their dependants and suppliers is positive not only for them but also on the economy as a whole‚" Smyth and Timme said.
The remaining restaurants are Eden‚ Kirstenbosch‚ Melrose Arch‚ Zoo Lake and Durban Pier. Moyo V&A Waterfront‚ Fountains in Pretoria and Spier have all been liquidated.
Moyo‚ which serves African cuisine‚ was established in 1998 by Jason Lurie as a small 120-seater restaurant in Norwood‚ Johannesburg.
"Chapter 6 business rescue proceedings was introduced to South African company legislation some three years ago to promote this very outcome. It provides the time‚ protection and intervention enabling companies to be rescued instead of being liquidated‚" Smyth and Timme said.
