News
Australian arm of international chain goes into voluntary administration, Shepparton store affected
The Shepparton store of an international fast-food chain closed its doors on Monday.
Carl’s Jr. restaurant, off the Goulburn Valley Hwy, shut its doors on July 29 and remains closed.
It comes as the Australian arm of the international burger chain was placed into voluntary administration, KPMG confirmed.
KPMG Australia’s David Hardy, George Georges and Emily Seeckts were appointed voluntary administrators of CJ’s QSR Group Pty Ltd, and certain subsidiaries, collectively known as the CJ’s Group, on July 29.
According to the KPMG statement, CJ’s Group is a licensee of Carl’s Jr. restaurants in Australia and independently owns and operates 24 Carl’s Jr. restaurants. The CJ’s Group also serves as the master licensee to 25 Carl’s Jr. restaurants independently owned and operated by third party sub-licensees.
The voluntary administrators have now assumed day-to-day control of CJ’s Group and are undertaking an urgent assessment of the business and its operations.
Two dozen Carl’s Jr. restaurants in Australia are impacted by the voluntary administration — with four remaining open and 20 having closed — while 25 other sub-licensee restaurants will continue to operate with little to no impact.
KPMG confirmed to The News on Tuesday morning that the Shepparton restaurant was one of the 20 closed under the administration.
The franchisor, Carl’s Jr. Restaurants LLC, a subsidiary of CKE Restaurants Holdings Inc, is not in administration and global operations, including restaurants owned and operated by licensees other than CJ Group, continue to operate as usual.
“As voluntary administrators, our initial focus will be on stabilising the operations of CJ’s Group. We will be conducting an immediate sale process of the existing store network and operations,” KPMG Australia restructuring services partner David Hardy said.
“We will be working with all stakeholders, including employees, suppliers and landlords, to maximise the outcome for all parties.”
KPMG said all suppliers, customers, landlords and other key stakeholders would be contacted in the coming days and a meeting of creditors was scheduled for August 7.