Pizza Fan is in advanced talks with two prospective investment groups, one with Greek and the other with Northern European interests. The next 60 days are seen as critical to the outcome of the negotiations and a possible change of ownership.
At the same time, the company is preparing to reopen its network of 110 outlets (company-owned and franchised), which employs 2,500 people, following a decision to unfreeze bank accounts.
Speaking to Euro2day.gr, the company’s lawyer, Michalis Markoulakos, distinguishes between the immediate resumption of operations and the parallel talks over ownership.
He expects the outlets to reopen by next Tuesday or Wednesday, covering both company-owned sites and the franchise network. The submission of amended declarations is also under way.
According to him, the outstanding financial obligations are significantly lower than initially reported. While early reports put the figure at €35 million, Mr Markoulakos says it is a third of that, or around €11–12 million.
Alongside the resumption of operations, the search for an investor who could bring about a change of ownership is also under way. “Talks with investors are already under way, and they are advanced. If they reach an agreement, there will hopefully be a transition to new ownership. But that is still in progress,” Mr Markoulakos says.
He clarifies that the negotiations involve two separate groups, which he does not wish to name. “One has Greek interests and the other foreign interests,” he says. The latter is from Northern Europe.
According to him, the Northern European investors are active in the pizza industry and have relevant experience. The contacts did not begin after the latest developments at the company. As he puts it, that group “was already in talks before the incident”.
As for the timetable, Mr Markoulakos expects the situation to become clear over the next two months. “It really isn’t easy, but I would say that whatever is going to happen will happen in the next, say, 60 days,” he says.
Bank accounts unfrozen
Earlier, it emerged on Friday afternoon that, under an order by Charalambos Vourliotis, two of Pizza Fan’s bank accounts are being unfrozen to enable it to meet financial obligations and pave the way for its outlets to reopen.
In addition to the payroll accounts, which were exempt from the freezing of accounts and assets from the outset, other bank accounts are also being unfrozen to cover payments to suppliers, employer contributions, loans, obligations to the state and other liabilities.