4FINGERS acquires 50% of Mad Mex, aims to grow in SG and MY

Singapore's fast-food brand, 4FINGERS has acquired a 50% stake in Mad Mex Fresh Mexican Grill (Mad Mex), an Australian Mexican QSR brand. The move marks 4FINGERS’ first step towards its aggregation of high quality complementary portfolio of food & beverage concepts with global scalability.As part of the partnership, 4FINGERS will establish Mad Mex’s presence in Southeast Asia and plans to open a number of outlets in Singapore and Malaysia in the next 12 months. It aims to grow its flagship brand, with new outlets launched recently across Malaysia in Penang, Johor Bahru and Kuala Lumpur and has planned to open 14 more outlets in Malaysia by the end of this year. In addition, its maiden US outlet is set to open in Los Angeles, California in last quarter of 2018. The fast-food brand has shortlisted a number of potential locations in both countries for the roll-out of Mad Mex stores. Together, 4FINGERS and Mad Mex currently operate over 100 outlets across Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Thailand. The group projects total system-wide revenues of over SG$120 million for FY19.This brand acquisition strategy will enable 4FINGERS to continue to aggressively scale up its management bandwidth, and further capitalise on supply chain, menu innovation, shared services and other scale economies. Clovis Young, Mad Mex’s founder and former majority shareholder, will remain as CEO of Mad Mex and retain a 50% stake in the business. Young has been a key driver in the rising popularity of Mexican casual dining in Australia and will continue to lead Mad Mex in its next stage of growth, including its expansion outside of Australia and New Zealand.4FINGERS’ management team will also be further ramped up to support the regional and international expansion.Currently, there are more than 20 vacancies currently identified in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur across key head office functions including marketing, IT, finance and accounting, HR and purchasing.“Mad Mex is the second key brand in the 4FINGERS Group. We are currently on the lookout for a third brand to complete this platform; a brand with similar characteristics to 4FINGERS and Mad Mex - strong, established, profitable and fast-growing that is easily scalable and has global potential,” Vijay Sethu, director of 4FINGERS said.