Interpath advises KnightBridge on Freshly Chopped acquisition
The group is also looking to secure a master franchise right in the UK and Ireland for an international brand that has 1,300 locations worldwide
Interpath Advisory has advised The KnightBridge Group on the outright acquisition of Freshly Chopped.
KnightBridge is prepared to inject a significant investment into Freshly Chopped to rejuvenate its branding and devise a new menu offering.
Launched in 2012, Freshly Chopped grew to be one of Ireland’s largest indigenous quick service food chains.
The recently launched Hospitality Division of KnightBridge will retain the existing Freshly Chopped senior management and head office team and bring together a team of hospitality experts to breathe new life into the brand.
The group is also looking to secure a master franchise right in the UK and Ireland for an international brand that has 1,300 locations worldwide.
Interpath Advisory, which advised KnightBridge on the acquisition, has been retained to lead on commercial lease acquisition and financial strategic planning.
Kent will spearhead KnightBridge Hospitality Group alongside Jonathan Parkhill, who has worked as the business development director with Freshly Chopped for the past 10 years. The hospitality veteran will also join the board of Knightsbridge Hospitality as a senior partner.
Kent Lim, founding partner of KnightBridge, who previously worked with Freshly Chopped, said: “By leveraging our international network and our expertise in investment and franchising, we see a very bright future for Chopped.”
CK Liang, group chairman of KnightBridge, added: “The Hospitality Group has ambitious plans and is in active acquisition mode, with a particular interest in indigenous food brands in their early days who are looking to scale and expand.”
Mark Degnan, managing director at Interpath Advisory, concluded: “We’ve been working closely with KnightBridge to deliver a transaction that will provide an ideal platform for its Hospitality Division to grow.
“The new capital injection, coupled with the restructuring of Freshly Chopped, demonstrates the confidence the team has in the fundamental proposition of Freshly Chopped moving forward. While the sector may have faced a slow post-COVID recovery, there are opportunities for models with the right funding structure behind it.”
