The Nando's Burger Merger

Those who have invested in Nando's, the founder of the Nando's chain of spicy chicken restaurants, may be in for some good personal finance news thanks to a recent merger. The Nando's chain has recently acquired the Clapham House Group, famous for their own burger chain.

This means that Nando's now owns and operates nearly 300 restaurants across the United Kingdom. Over 200 of these are the Nando's chicken outlets, while about sixty are the previously Clapham run Gourmet Burger fast food locations. The acquisition of Clapham also means the induction of a Greek food chain, several overseas restaurants and more. This brings their total number of employees to over 8,000.

This merger is no surprise to those that have tracked the interactions of Nando's and other groups. Nando's was already a strong investor in CHG, owning a full quarter of the shares in the company. The lunge forward is not an unexpected merger; it is simply Nando's move toward owning the entire company rather than a large chunk of it.

There are no dissenting voices screaming about the merger. In fact, the entire deal has the full backing of the Clapham board of directors. That includes David Page, a fast food giant with a large stake in CHG, who was once the owner of Pizza Express.

CHG was not selling in a period of loss, however, which bodes well for all those involved. The company made over a million pounds in profit over their last fiscal year. However, the volatility of the market, as well as increased pressures from consumers looking for the lowest prices, have created an incentive to team up with another powerhouse.

They aren't the only ones. Other major groups, including Wagamama and RG, are currently seeking buyers. While buyers are gladly becoming plump on these fast foods, it seems the companies themselves are slimming down and tightening their belts.