Dubai-based private equity firm Gateway Partners has acquired a 40 per cent stake in the Gulf franchise of coffee and breakfast chain Tim Hortons.
Gateway Partners, which is led by former Standard Chartered banker Viswanathan Shankar, paid about $50M for the take in the operations.
The franchise is owned and managed by Dubai-based fashion and lifestyle retail conglomerate Apparel Group. Apparel’s Chairman Nilesh Ved confirmed Gateway’s investment, which he said would be used to grow the business. “We are going to take it to Egypt and India and expand in the Gulf.”
Tim Hortons has said that its regional business is the chain’s leading franchise outside of North America, with 141 stores as of the end of last year across the Middle East. Cafes and restaurants have been closed for eating-in across the Gulf after a lockdown to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
