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Pie Face Signs Agreement with Landmark Hospitality to Open 100 Stores in the Middle East

By: Pie Face |  1,021 Shares     164 Reads

NEW YORK - October 16, 2013 - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Pie Face Holdings Pty Ltd, an Australian micro-bakery cafe chain specializing in sweet and savory pies with a US subsidiary which recently opened seven Pie Face stores in Manhattan, will expand its operations into the Middle East as a result of the signing of a major agreement with the hospitality division of Landmark Group, a Dubai-based retail and hospitality conglomerate with operations in retail, hospitality, leisure, health and wellness.

Foodmark, a division of Landmark Hospitality has committed to opening a minimum of 100 Pie Face stores in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar over the next ten years. A number of commissaries will also be opened, to support specialist production of Pie Face products for the Middle East.

Pie Face entered its first foreign market, the United States, in early 2012 when it launched in Manhattan, was featured on Late Night with David Letterman and attracted US$15 million for its Manhattan roll out from Steve Wynn (the founder and CEO of Wynn Resorts).

Pie Face recently entered the New Zealand market with partners Julian Field and Jared Palmer who opened their first store in Auckland on September 1, 2013 and are committed to open 62 Pie Face stores across the North and South Islands over the next 10 years.

The company is also in discussions with potential partners in Indonesia, Japan, India and Canada.

Pie Face retained Univest Consultancy Group, W.L.L, a global advisory firm based in Kuwait, to advise on Pie Face’s entry into the Middle East and conduct the search for the most suitable partners for the region. Landmark was selected due to its strong track record in retailing in the region, its commitment to growing the region’s food and beverage sector, and its enthusiasm for the Pie Face brand and business model.

Wayne Homschek, co-Founder and CEO of Pie Face, said "We are excited that our work with Univest has led us to be in partnership with a group such as Landmark Group in this region. The Group has a 40-year track record in the Middle East, is the largest retail tenant in the region with over 22 million square feet of retail space and over 45,000 employees and has a dedicated and experienced food services team."

Kieran Mallon, COO of Foodmark, the food & beverage division of Landmark Hospitality, said, "We are thrilled to be in partnership with Pie Face and it marks our entry into the bakery café segment. It is our endeavor to keep introducing new concepts to the region and Pie Face is a globally unique concept with a fantastic product, a quirky brand, a fantastic business model and an experienced management team. We look forward to making this an iconic brand and delighting customers in the Middle East with a completely new offering."

Khaled El-Marsafy, Vice Chairman of Univest, said "Pie Face offers superior-quality, fresh-baked products complemented with great coffee. This provides Landmark Hospitality a unique opportunity to enter and penetrate the Middle East coffee market with such an innovative bakery café brand. Univest is proud to have brought Pie Face and Landmark Hospitality together and will continue to support Pie Face through our Dubai based office dedicated to the food and beverage industry."

Pie Face was advised by the law firm Golenbock, Eiseman, Assor, Bell and Peskoe LLP, New York, New York

About Pie Face

Pie Face is an 80-unit micro bakery café chain founded in Sydney, Australia in 2003. It is currently operating in Australia, New Zealand and the United States, with plans for entry into additional international markets in the next 12-24 months. The Company makes savory and sweet pies, pastries, and other baked products from scratch in addition to serving gourmet espresso and filtered coffee through its "wake me up" coffee range. Pie Face launched in Manhattan in early 2012 and now has seven company owned/operated stores operating profitably. The Company operates a "hub and spoke" business model whereby it builds independent commissaries in each major market it enters where all pastry products are made from scratch. The products are shipped to its stores where they are baked fresh 24 hours per day.

About Foodmark

Foodmark is the food and beverage arm of Landmark Hospitality.

Established in 2007, Foodmark operates a number of internationally franchised restaurants within the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar including Carluccio’s, Chi’Zen, Mango Tree and Max’s Restaurant. Foodmark launched has its own brand restaurant, Zafran in July 2010. Foodmark also has joint ventures with Ushna, The Meat Company, La Gaufrette and Bazerkan. The latest addition to the Foodmark portfolio has been Max Burger, a burger franchise from Sweden.

For more information please visit, www.landmarkgroup.com.

About Univest Consultancy Group, W.L.L

Univest Consultancy Group, W.L.L is a Middle East based investment advisory firm that actively leverages its extensive global partnerships and seasoned network to systematically identify; directly access and efficiently short list the most unique opportunities in the ever-changing international markets. As a result, Univest Group facilitates rare sought after opportunities on an exclusive basis to its clients worldwide. Univest Group is proud to bridge the gap across boundaries and provides its clients in the MENA region with direct access to capitalize on these attractive investment opportunities at the right stage of investment.

Contact:

New York: YC Media
Kimberly Yorio
212-609-5009
kim@ycmedia.com

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