THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the plan of Max’s Group Inc., the country’s largest chain of casual-dining restaurants, to merge 11 of its units in a move to rationalize its operations.
In its disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the company said it is merging its units Max’s Circle Inc., Max’s Makati Inc., Max’s SM Marikina Inc., Max’s Baclaran Inc., Max’s Food Services Inc., Max’s (Ermita) Inc., Max’s Franchising Inc., Chicken’s R Us Inc., Square Top Inc., Max’s Express Restaurants Inc. and Max’s Kitchen Inc., which will also be the surviving entity.
“This merger is part of the continuing efforts of the company to streamline and rationalize the operations of the Max’s Group,” it said.
The company was still rationalizing its operations as it merged with the operations of Pancake House Inc. last year.
Earlier this year, it decided to fold Singapore-based management consultancy firm Global Max Services Pte Ltd. into the company.
Global Max is registered in Hong Kong and is engaged in the business of management-consultancy services.
Max’s said it entered a share-purchase agreement and acquired Global Max for about $1 million. The transaction will be completed by December this year.
Global Max previously had almost the same majority owners of Max’s.
The sellers include William Rodgers; Ruby Estaniel; Sharon Fuentebella, Max’s chairman; Jim Fuentebella; Cristina Garcia; Carolyn Salud; Jimmy Trota; and Robert Trota, Max’s president and CEO.
Max’s earlier also folded eMax’s, a company registered in Colorado, USA. The company was engaged in the granting of franchises for the development and operation of restaurants under the Max’s brand name within North America.
For its overseas expansion, Max’s appointed Peter King as its international CEO.
King, 49, has served as vice president for Asia Pacific of Krispy Kreme from June 2011 to January 2015. Previously, he also served as general manager for Swensen’s Ice Cream, Minor Group of Thailand from May 2008 to June 2011.
The company earlier said its income jumped more than sixfold for the first half of the year to P247.74 million.
On a pro-forma basis, or assuming that both Max’s and Pancake House merged for the period, its income would have only grown by 37.5 percent or to P180.17 million.
Max’s only received regulatory approval to merge with Pancake House in November 2014.
“We continue to build on the momentum gained in the first quarter and expect to sustain this growth trajectory on the back of well-structured operations,” Robert Trota said.
For the period, the company had to simultaneously close down 10 of the 13 branches of Le Coeur De France, which it said will have to undergo a major rebranding to upgrade product quality and service platform.
Max’s has been implementing a series of store closures when it merged with Pancake House, formerly owned by the Lorenzo family.
During this phase, Max’s aims to consolidate a larger base of operations by standardizing procedures and streamlining back-end support to capitalize on operational efficiencies.
Future openings will be located in prime growth areas featuring a refreshed store look and design complemented by enhanced menu offerings, it said.
Max’s Group’s consolidated revenues increased 166 percent to P4.88 billion from last year. On a pro-forma basis, topline growth was only at 6 percent or to P4.62 billion.