An Australian fast food empire that started as a small charcoal chicken shop next to a train station could make its husband and wife owners a fortune as they test the waters for a possible sale.
Lebanese immigrant Andre Estephan opened his original store with his sister Samira in 1997 before branching out on his own and founding El Jannah with his wife Carole.
The couple are now proud owners of a fast food giant with 35 locations across New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT.
The business that grew out of the original store in Granville, in Sydney’s west, is now reportedly on the radar of international investment banks such as Morgan Stanley, which are looking to advise the owners and negotiate a possible sale this year.
The company has not yet formally brought on board any advisors; However, the company’s chief executive, Brett Houldin, has been talking to potential bidders, the Australian Financial Review reported.
Houldin previously ran Craveable Brands, the owner of Port, Red Rooster and Chargrilled Charlies, which itself has been courting buyers.
Craveable’s owner, PAG Asia Capital, had been in talks with Affinity Equity Partners, which valued that business at $800 million, although talks recently collapsed.
The Jannah is about one-fifteenth the size (35 locations vs. 544), which, based on that alone, would push its value to more than $50 million; However, any offer would likely be higher due to its strong brand and expansion potential.
Houldin said in October last year that his ambition was for El Jannah to have 300 sites “maybe closer to 500 if we can” within the next decade.
El Jannah husband and wife duo Andre and Carole Estephan are photographed inside a store.
Jannah’s is now a fast food giant with 35 locations across New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT after its humble beginnings as a single store next to a train station (a branch is pictured).
El Jannah’s roots date back to the first chicken shop called Awafi, which was opened by Andre and Samira and their respective partners in 1997 in the Sydney suburb of Granville.
Samira and her husband Simon Azzi contributed most of the capital and Andre and his wife Carole contributed the rest.
Awafi offered traditional Lebanese-style chicken cooked over open charcoal, and the delicious smell is said to have attracted customers from the nearby train station and word soon spread to the surrounding suburbs.
“People think Australians are the only ones who barbecue, but in Lebanon it is normal for every home to cook with charcoal,” said Simon and Samira’s daughter Sindy.
In 1998, André and Carole decided to separate from Simon and Samira and found El Jannah on their own, which means “heaven” in Arabic.
Andre took over management and the front of the business while Carole worked as a chef in the back kitchen.
Being a family business, agreements over Awafi’s methods and finances were informal and led to a rivalry between the new El Jannah and the Azzis, who continued with Awafi, as the two restaurants competed for customers.
El Jannah’s grilled food, served with Lebanese pickles, pita bread, chips and a generous portion of its famous garlic sauce, took it to the top of Sydney’s warring chicken chains.
Pictured is the palatial house owned by the founders of El Jannah. The couple hope to sell the huge mansion in Sydney’s northwest for $15 million.
Awafi, along with Hawa, also from Sydney’s west, Frangos, founded by Portuguese immigrants, and Chargrilled Charlies, based in the aforementioned eastern suburbs, have all been successful, but have been overshadowed by the meteoric rise of El Jannah.
“In 1998, El Jannah was one of the first of its kind to offer this type of food,” Estephan told Real Commercial last year.
‘We saw an opportunity to sell a high-quality product that was not yet widely available and Granville was an ideal location due to the existing Lebanese community.
‘We loved seeing customers enjoying our food and returning with their friends and family. With our charcoal chicken the hero and sales on the rise, at the end of the first year of trading we knew it would be a successful business.’
The business expanded into its second location in nearby Punchbowl in 2009, followed by further locations in its western Sydney “heart”.
It then moved to Melbourne with venues in Preston, Campbellfield and Craigeburn performing well.
It now has regional NSW locations in Tahmoor and Albion Park along with a store in Gungahlin in the ACT.
Newcastle, Woollongong, Canberra, SA and Queensland are next, although the new locations will be independent restaurants with off-the-table dining areas, according to Houldin.
“I would love for the brand to be nationwide and potentially go international.”
Recent success stories in Australia’s red-hot fast food industry include burrito chain Guzman y Gomez, which recently floated on the ASX, and Sunshine Coast founded Betty’s Burgers, which has expanded to 60 locations in less than 10 years.