Japanese food group Zensho Holdings buys YO! owner  for $621m

Zensho Holdings operates around 10,000 restaurants globally.

Japanese food group Zensho Holdings has bought the Snowfox Group in a transaction valued at $621m.

Formerly known as YO! Sushi, the group was renamed to Snowfox Group following a merger in 2019. It operates around 3,000 kiosks and restaurants across the UK and North America.

Founded in 1982, Zensho is a leading Japanese food group and is one of the biggest food service companies in Japan by sales. The company operates a diverse portfolio of businesses in Japan, including the beef bowl restaurant Sukiya, the 100 yen sushi restaurant Hama-sushi, and the family restaurant Coco's, as well as retail and nursing care businesses. Outside of Japan, the company also operates Sukiya, Hama-sushi mainly in East Asia, Advanced Fresh Concepts (AFC) mainly in the US, and The Chicken Rice Shop (TCRS), which operates halal-certified chicken rice shops in Malaysia.

"This is an exciting moment for the Snowfox Group, and, having had seven successful years owned by Mayfair Equity Partners, this proposed transaction represents the next natural step for us as a business. I have been hugely impressed by Zensho during my recent meetings with them, and they share our own ambition of providing the highest quality, most authentic Japanese food at the best possible value,” Richard Hodgson, CEO at Snowfox, said.

The terms of the transaction are to be confirmed and completion remains subject to customary closing conditions.