“Under the agreement, GPI will develop over 250 Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants and more than 70 Baskin-Robbins shops in South Africa, through both corporate-owned stores and franchised outlets, with an initial focus on Cape Town and Johannesburg. The agreement also calls for the introduction of Baskin-Robbins ice cream products to supermarket chains and convenience stores in South Africa over the license period,” the company said.

Dunkin’ Donuts is one of the world’s leading coffee and bakery chains, with more than 11,500 outlets in 40 countries worldwide selling more than 1, 8 billion cups of coffee a year. Over 50% of Dunkin’ Donuts global sales consist of coffee sales.

Baskin-Robbins is the world’s largest chain of ice cream specialty outlets known for its ‘31 flavours’ and creative range of frozen desserts. Currently there are more than 7,600 BaskinRobbins outlets in nearly 50 countries, serving over 300 million customers a year.

The exclusive Master Licence Agreement is for a 10-year period with an option to renew for further 10-years. GPI will invest R210 million over the next 10-years, which will be funded off its own balance sheet and it does not expect to raise any third party debt related to this transaction. This transaction will have a minimal impact on the earnings for the Group in the short term.