November 20 (SeeNews) - US-based pizza and fast-food chain Pizza Hut on Friday opened a new restaurant in Romania's eastern city of Galati following a 430,000 euro ($507,400) investment.
The new unit will employ 35 and is the company's 22nd location in the country, Pizza Hut said in a press release.
"We are always looking for new expansion opportunities for Pizza Hut because the brand is constantly developing. This time, we turned our attention to the south-eastern part of the country where we identified a real potential," Pizza Hut's chief marketing officer, Monica Eftimie, said.
Pizza Hut entered the Romanian market in 1994. Alongside Pizza Hut Delivery, KFC and Taco Bell, it is part of Sphera Franchise Group [BSE:SFG].
Sphera Franchise Group was created in June and is one of the biggest restaurant groups in Romania, with overall sales of over 130 million euro per year, 100 locations and over 4,000 employees.
At the beginning of November, Sphera Franchise Group raised 285 million lei ($72.5 million/61.4 million euro) through an initial public offering (IPO) of a 25% stake on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB).
SFG's shares were trading 0.90% lower at 33.1 lei on Monday on the BVB, at 1008 CET.
(1 euro=4.64 lei)