Equity
Hungary's Cyberg prepares "significant" international expansion
‘Food For Free’ explained
The smart tables in KAJAHU restaurants will not only enable guests to place their food orders, but will also offer digital content based on guest profiles, creating additional revenue streams through ads, commissions cross-selling and subscription-only content.Once the franchise network passes a certain ‘critical mass’, its revenue from digital services will overtake those of food service operations. This allows franchises to realize larger returns and greater profit margins, which could eventually provide funding for the food consumed by the restaurant’s guests, the company said in a statement. This would then enable the step-by-step realisation of the 3F concept over the next few decades.
As KAJAHU restaurants become available globally, our mission to ‘make the world equal’ can be realised
, commented Cyberg CEO Balázs Rózsa. The company works together with EY and UniCredit Bank.Going global
The company aims to achieve its ‘critical mass’ through franchising the KAJAHU brand. The company’s international growth strategy for the next five years was developed by the French franchise expert Thierry Rousset, defining the company’s strategic and opportunistic markets based on benchmarking and taking into account each market’s potential defined by business opportunities, supply chain, costs and return.In addition to the existing 83 franchise licences already signed, the document envisages significant growth in three key phases on markets in Europe, US and Canada, the Middle East and Asia.
The company aims to sell Master Franchise rights in key markets such as Germany, Spain, France, Russia, Italy and the UK within three years. Cyberg expects significant interest in franchise rights due to the low risk and the potential for high profit margins, as well as buying into the brand’s global vision.
Cyberg is planning to enter the international financial markets and hired Bjorn Ehring, a finance adviser from Germany as Board advisor for Corporate Finance. Hiring Ehring with the experience of over 50 IPOs is to achieve the goal of getting Cyberg listed on international stock exchanges within the next few years.
The first location outside Hungary in Parndorf, Austria is predicted to open ahead of schedule, where Gábor Solti (former Head Chef of Vapiano) will oversee food service operations. The next international flagship store is likely to open in London as a result of a joint venture between Cyberg and Region Capital Holding. In the coming months, András Szakács will join Cyberg following a very successful 17 year-long management career with the US chain TGI Fridays. He will start his role as Cyberg’s new Director for Operations & Training this summer. The development of KAJAHU continues under the direction of Zoltán Besse, a lead developer of the Hungarian social media site iWiW and real estate site Duna House. The company is gaining pace in the innovations and IT space with the hiring of Konrád Kiss, founder of ‘Bitgap’.
Cyberg shares have been traded on the Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) since mid-January. It started off at HUF 1,800 and it closed Thursday’s trading session at HUF 1,740.
