Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. (NYSE: KKD) announced today that it has signed a development agreement to open 25 stores in the United Kingdom.

Krispy Kreme will partner with Chesire and Kent, Ltd. and Donald Henshall to form Krispy Kreme UK Limited, which will develop 25 stores over the next 5 years throughout the United Kingdom. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. will retain a 34% equity interest in the new partnership.

Scott Livengood, Krispy Kreme Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “This marks our second franchise partnership outside of North America. As we’ve indicated previously, we have identified a number of primary target markets which we believe have success characteristics similar to our newer markets in North America. These include, in addition to the UK, Australia and New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Spain and Mexico.”