"Auckland-based Tahua was established specifically for the purpose of acquiring the assets of Starbucks New Zealand.
Its owners have experience in other multi-site hospitality businesses including The Better Bar Company and Maestro Cafes."
I would say that's the answer. Owners looking to turn the screws tighter on the franchisee's when the agreement comes up for renewal. Pretty much a given with corporate greed these days. Might be time for diligent shareholders to check when the next lot of corporate thuggery will hit RBD's operations with the next master franchise agreement renewal...
from what I'm hearing it sounds as though it was a double whammy ... more onerous licence agreements significantly reducing profits to RBD ... and an obligation to open more stores (Tahua committed to 50).
I had a look for the terms of the remaining existing franchise agreements with Yum. Pizza Hutt NZ got renewed for 10 years in mid-2018; I think KFC NZ still has 8 years to run on the 2006 deal, and I think there was a circa 10 yr deal with Yum when they bought Hawaii et al. KFC Australia - I'm not sure. I think it might be short - low intangibles on balance sheet - so that might be the one to worry about if Yum was to take advantage of its exit from store ownership in Australia to make more demands of its franchisees.
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