Owner of Pizza Hut and KFC in Brazil sells airport operations in Panama

The International Meal Company Comida (owner of the Frango Assado, Pizza Hut and KFC brands in Brazil) signed an offer to sell its entire Tocumén International Airport operation in Panama to Inflight Holdings Cayman for US$ 40 million.

IMC Panamá has 13 stores in operation in Terminal 1 for passengers and the concession to operate another 11 units in Terminal 2, which is expected to open in the third quarter of this year.

For IMC, this negotiation is an important milestone in the company’s business simplification strategy.

The proceeds from the operation will be used to balance the company’s capital structure and reduce the company’s debt.

“Panama’s departure directly contributes to two important pillars of our strategy, which are business simplification and financial discipline. We will allocate resources to better balance our capital structure and reduce our debt. With this, we are even stronger to accelerate our transformation agenda, investing in operational efficiency and in the development of our brands”, says Alexandre Santoro, CEO of IMC.

Completion of the sale, which depends on approval from creditors and other conditions precedent, is expected to take place in mid-October this year.

In August, IMC negotiated the master franchise and operation of nine Carls Jr stores in Panama with Excelencia Y Superación SA, for approximately US$ 2.1 million.

Currently, IMC is the largest restaurant operator at Tocumén Airport, with 60% of the stores in Terminal 1, and in 2021 it recorded total sales locally of US$14 million.

The value of the offer is equivalent to approximately 6 times last year’s Ebitda.