13. June 2022

ARQIS advised the Frittenwerk founding team on the sale of the restaurant chain to Valora.

The first Frittenwerk restaurant was founded in 2014 in Düsseldorf Bilk and offers modern interpretations of the Canadian snack classic Poutine. Already in the year of its foundation, the first location was awarded as “Station Shop of the Year”. The menu is all about fancy french fries dishes with a focus on sustainability, for example with biodegradable packaging. The Düsseldorf-based gastro company has opened 27 locations since it was founded. This expansion is to be continued more intensively in association with Valora. Two further openings in Mainz and Koblenz are already planned for mid-2022.

Valora, which has so far operated mainly in the take-away food service business and unites brands such as Back-Factory or Ditsch in it´s portfolio, brightens up their customers` journey with a comprehensive foodvenience offering. With the merger Frittenwerk and Valora are thus pursuing a joint growth strategy. Valora is further expanding its multi-format strategy and entering the fast-casual market with Frittenwerk. Frittenwerk itself will continue to expand within the new group. The current owners and employees will remain with the company and will in future be managed within Valora’s Food Service division.

The ARQIS team, led by Jörn-Christian Schulze, came into the mandate through DZ Bank, a team led by Managing Director Birgit Meyer zu Selhausen, Rolf Martin Blume and Christian Radtke. The ARQIS team is experienced in the system catering and food business. ARQIS advised New York Pizza on numerous transactions, most recently on the acquisition of the German pizza chain Stückwerk, and regularly advised Katjes on transactions.

Advisors to Founders

ARQIS: Dr. Jörn-Christian Schulze (Lead), Kamil Flak, Laura Rizzi, Severin Steffens, Hannah Potter (all Transactions/M+A); Dr. Ulrich Lienhard, Tim Bresemann (Real Estate), Daniel Schlemann (Data Law); Nora Meyer-Stratmann (IP/IT); Jens Knipping (Tax); Anja Markworth, Constanze Eberz (Labour Law)

Marck Rechtsanwälte (Kartellrecht): Dr. Georg Schmittmann