United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based quick service restaurant operator Americana Restaurants is in preliminary discussions to acquire a stake in compatriot Cravia, a food and beverage (F&B) franchise operator.
The news was confirmed by Americana in a stock exchange filing on 22 June 2025.
The size of the stake or the anticipated timeline for the transaction were not disclosed.
Cravia, headquartered in Dubai, has been under the ownership of private equity investor Fajr Capital since 2016. It has 78 outlets and a workforce exceeding 2,000.
Its brand offerings are Five Guys, Cinnabon, Zaatar W Zeit, Carvel ice cream and Seattle’s Best Coffee.
Americana previously gained approval for concurrent and dual listing in Saudi Arabia and the UAE from the Saudi financial regulatory authority.
Americana Restaurants recently added Peet’s Coffee to its portfolio of brands, which includes KFC, Hardee’s, Pizza Hut, TGI Fridays and Krispy Kreme.
It opened 14 new stores and combined 46 additional stores from Pizza Hut Oman, totalling the store count to 2,630 across 12 nations.
The company also operates Wimpy and Chicken Tikka across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and Kazakhstan. It is backed by an investment vehicle owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and real estate mogul Mohamed Alabbar.
Bloomberg highlights that Americana's position has been tight due to the brand’s internal restructuring, job cuts and a consumer boycott of its brands that began with the onset of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
In the first quarter (Q1) of 2025, the company generated a net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company of $32.6m, up 16.5% from Q1 2024.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation stand at $121.7m, a 17.4% year-on-year increase.
