Domino's Pizza Group PLC (DPG), Britain, and Domino's Pizza Enterprises (DPE), Australia, are forming a joint venture to acquire the German Pizza chain Joey's Pizza for 45 million Euros ($49.13 million), which will be the largest pizza delivery chain in Germany.
Dominos Britain already has 20 stores in Germany, of which 15 will be part of the joint venture and the rest will be shut down.
Germany is the fourth-largest market for pizza, where DPG has been struggling to create a stronghold.
The deal would be owned two-third by the DPE, and will increase the number of Dominos stores to 227.
DPG said that the deal amount could go up to 79 million Euros if Joey's Pizza meets some performance goals, reports Reuters.
The Sydney-listed Dominos would up its number of stores to 1,870 after the deal.
"The acquisition of the market-leading Joey's Pizza business provides immediate scale and marketing presence which we can build from," Don Meij, Chief Executive of Domino's Pizza Enterprises, said.
Stock prices of DPE increased by 12% after the announcement of the deal.
The number of Dominos stores in Europe will increase to 775, and network sales will be boosted by $218 million.
The buyout wouldn't increase profits immediately as Joey's earned only $10 million in 2015 and remodeling of the stores is in order. However, Meij, sees the venture as a long-term plan. The deal is supposed to be complete by March 2016.
Dominos reached an agreement with Dominos Pizza Inc, New York, the parent company securing franchise rights to Germany. Its rights in France and Belgium has been extended for another 26 years ie till 2041 and with the Netherlands and Germany till 2043.
Dominos's ambitious plan is to have 2,500 stores in Europe as opposed to 775 current stores, including Joey's Pizza.
On 16 December, in Australia, when the stock markets closed, the share prices stood at $53.44, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.
