Intera and NoHo Partners are establishing a Europe-wide premium burger company Better Burger Society
Intera Partners and the leading restaurant operator in Northern Europe, NoHo Partners, have established Better Burger Society, a company targeting a leading position in the growing premium burger market in Europe. As part of the transaction, NoHo Partners will transfer its holdings of Friends & Brgrs shares to the newly established entity. Concurrently, Intera will inject new capital into the company, facilitating the acquisition of a controlling interest in Holy Cow!, a distinguished Swiss-based company specializing in premium hamburgers.
Better Burger Society has been established as the parent company encompassing leading premium burger chains across Europe. The company’s strategy is to accelerate the growth of the restaurant concepts it owns and develop their operations by supporting local entrepreneurs and teams behind the concepts. Both Intera and NoHo acknowledge the substantial benefits associated with consolidating similar concepts within one company. Such benefits include, for example, the unification of operating models, the sharing of best practices, and certain advantages of scale and synergy. In addition to the strong organic growth of local brands, the plan is to accelerate growth with selected acquisitions that support the strategy in new operating countries. The Better Burger Society is also in a good position for promoting the principles of sustainable development in its companies as part of its core business.
“We are excited about the cooperation with NoHo Partners and the acquired companies. Better Burger Society wants to be the market leader in its target markets and to form a community for the most ambitious entrepreneurs in the industry. We believe that through the expertise that will be concentrated in the new company we will be in a good position for building a significant international player in a growing market,” says Intera’s partner Tomi Terho.
“We are looking forward to building Better Burger Society together with Intera. Based on our extensive research of the European restaurant market in the past years, we have found that local brand, high quality, and fresh ingredients are clear competitive advantages in a market that has been tough to enter for multinational brands. Our Friends & Brgrs acquisition in 2020 has confirmed this to be true also in Finland. We believe that by focusing our know-how on scalable brand business in one separate company, we can more efficiently expand our premium burger business into the large European markets”, says Aku Vikström, CEO of NoHo Partners.
Tuomas Piirtola, M.Sc. (Econ.), has been appointed Managing Director of Better Burger Society. Piirtola has previously been Director of the fast-food business at NoHo Partners. In his role, Piirtola reports to the Board of Directors of Better Burger Society, chaired by NoHo Partners’ CEO Aku Vikström.
First restaurant concepts of the new company are Friends & Brgrs and Holy Cow!
Better Burger Society’s first restaurant concepts are Finnish company Friends & Brgrs and Swiss company Holy Cow!. Both companies are leading providers of premium hamburgers in their respective markets and very similar in concept. Friends & Brgrs is Finland’s number one premium hamburger chain with 26 restaurants. The company’s turnover was 21 million euros in 2022. Holy Cow! is Switzerland’s number one premium hamburger chain with 16 restaurants. The company’s turnover is estimated to be around 40 million euros in 2023. As part of the transaction, the operational management of both companies will continue in their current roles and all owners involved in the day-to-day operations of the companies will continue as shareholders of the new company. Friends & Brgrs and Holy Cow! will continue to operate with their existing strong local brands.
“As the founders of Friends & Brgrs, we are happy that our company will join the Better Burger Society, which has a strong knowledge of burgers and a clear vision for the future. Our concept is successful, and we see that together with Better Burger Society, the conditions for our company’s growth will improve even further. There are many areas where we see opportunities to collaborate and learn from each other. The collective wealth of expertise in restaurant operations possessed by all owners establishes a good basis for the development of operations”, says Peter Fagerholm, partner of Friends & Brgrs and one of the founders.
The transaction is expected to be completed during the third quarter of 2023, subject to approval from the Finnish competition authority.
Additional information:
Tomi Terho
Partner, Intera Partners
tomi.terho@interapartners.fi
Intera Partners is a Finnish private equity firm with a focus on growth and internationalisation. Intera manages three active funds with a total capital of EUR 785 million. The funds are invested in a total of 12 portfolio companies with approximately 13,000 employees and a combined revenues of EUR 1.1 billion.
NoHo Partners Plc is a Finnish conglomerate specializing in restaurant industry services, founded in 1996. In 2013, it became the first Finnish restaurant operator to be listed on Nasdaq Helsinki as a publicly traded company. Throughout its history, the company has experienced strong growth. The conglomerate operates around 250 restaurants in Finland, Denmark, and Norway. Some of its well-known restaurant concepts include Elite, Savoy, Teatteri, Sea Horse, Stefan’s Steakhouse, Palace, Löyly, Hanko Aasia, Friends & Brgrs, Campingen, and Cock’s & Cows. Depending on the season, the conglomerate employs approximately 2,300 individuals in full-time equivalents. The company aims to achieve a turnover of 400 million euros by the end of 2024. Its vision is to become the leading restaurant company in Northern Europe.
Friends & Brgrs is Finland’s leading premium hamburger chain, founded in 2014. The company has 26 restaurants and the company’s turnover was 21 million euros in 2022.
Holy Cow! is Switzerland’s leading premium hamburger joint founded in 2009. The company has 16 restaurants and the company’s turnover is estimated to be around 40 million euros in 2023.
