Wendy's and Berjaya Corporation to Open Restaurants in Malaysia

By: Wendy's | 1,014 Shares 1,695 Reads

New Franchisee Signs Development Agreement

October 12, 2007 // Franchising.com // DUBLIN, Ohio – Wendy's International and Berjaya Corporation Berhad announced today that they have signed a development agreement to build Wendy's restaurants in Malaysia. Berjaya, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Nadi Klasik Sdn Bhd, has been granted the right to develop and operate Wendy's restaurants in Malaysia. Berjaya plans to open the first of these restaurants in Kuala Lumpur in late 2007 or early 2008 and will continue development in the Klang Valley region and other cities over the next 10 years. The new franchisee expects to open more than 70 Wendy's restaurants in Malaysia.

"We are pleased to enter a franchise partnership with Berjaya, a company that is well respected in Asia and worldwide," said Dave Near, chief operations officer, Wendy's International, Inc. "Berjaya and its Chairman and CEO Tan Sri Dato' Seri Vincent Tan have a great deal of experience in successfully operating several well-known restaurant brands."

Berjaya has extensive experience in developing and managing quick service restaurants in Malaysia and currently operates the Starbucks and Kenny Rogers Roasters franchises there, as well as Borders Books stores. Based in Kuala Lumpur, Berjaya is a diversified, publicly traded company with a wide variety of core businesses including, hotels and resorts, food and beverage companies, financial services, consumer marketing and manufacturing, among others.

"The inclusion of Wendy's brand into our Group's business is a strategic move that we had planned for some time. It complements the wide variety of businesses that we have," said Tan Sri Dato' Seri Vincent Tan. "To ensure success, we have included several well known and experienced people on the Board as well as in key management positions."

This agreement is part of Wendy's plan to focus development efforts in key markets outside of North America. "We are taking a disciplined approach to growing our international business, preparing our support infrastructure, and conducting detailed market analyses before expanding into new markets," said James C. Hartenstein, Wendy's senior vice president, international. "This is a great opportunity to expand our Wendy's brand in Asia."

Wendy's recently established an office in Hong Kong to serve franchise partners, suppliers and staff throughout the region, and prepare for expansion into new markets. Wendy's opened its first restaurant in Asia in 1980 and has approximately 150 restaurants in the Asia Pacific region.

Wendy's International, Inc.
Wendy's International, Inc. is one of the world's most successful restaurant operating and franchising companies, with more than 6,600 Wendy's restaurants in North America and international markets. More information about the company is available at www.wendys.com.

Berjaya Corporation Berhad
Berjaya Corporation Berhad is a company listed on the Malaysian Stock Exchange, Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad with interests in property investment and development; vacation timeshare, hotels, resorts and recreation development; consumer marketing and direct selling; financial services and gaming. For more information, please log on to www.berjaya.com.

Safe Harbor Statement
Certain information in this news release, particularly information regarding future development of new restaurants in Malaysia and the plans, expectations and objectives of Wendy's management, is forward looking. Factors set forth in Wendy's Safe Harbor under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, in addition to other possible factors not listed, could affect Wendy's actual results and cause such results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements. Please review Wendy's Safe Harbor statement athttp://www.wendys-invest.com/safeharbor.