Udenna Corporation, through its food group subsidiary, Eight-8-Ate Holdings, Inc., announced its full acquisition of all 51 Wendy’s restaurants in the Philippines, becoming the master franchisee of Wendy’s in the country. This deal is UDENNA’s latest venture in the highly competitive food and restaurant sector following its acquisition of Enderun Colleges, Philippine FamilyMart, and Conti’s Bakeshop and Restaurant. Eight-8-Ate also operates and manages Conti’s Bakeshop and Restaurant.

“Food is a basic need and Filipinos love to eat. We want to be in industries where there is growth and we will continue to expand our footprint in the restaurant space by offering quality, affordable dining out options,” says Udenna Chairman and CEO, Dennis Uy.

“The Philippine food service industry is growing at a phenomenal rate. The booming population, strong economic performance, rising incomes, increasing demand for convenience, and cuisine curiosity will continue to drive this growth for years to come. Eight-8-Ate wants to take a sizable bite of the opportunity,” adds Joey Garcia, Eight-8-Ate’s president and CEO.

“Wendy’s is distinguished by 50 years of delivering exceptional restaurant experiences. Including, a quick meal made from fresh, high quality ingredients, served by friendly people in a comfortable atmosphere, and at a fair price. As we embark on our next 50 years, we are focused on accelerating growth across the globe and we are excited to bring Wendy’s to even more valued customers in the Philippines through our partnership with UDENNA and Eight-8-Ate,” says Abigail Pringle, president, International and Chief Development Officer at The Wendy’s Company.

Now under UDENNA’s Eight-8-Ate, more restaurants are expected to open in key cities and provinces as part of an aggressive expansion plan. UDENNA also commits to elevate through Eight-8-Ate the customers’ dining experience through an enhanced core menu, launch of local signature products, and a reimaged restaurant design.

“Wendy’s brings strong synergies with our existing business portfolio. Our rich experience in supply chain management and operations excellence puts us in a great position to further scale the Wendy’s brand locally. We look forward to building on their success as we continue to uplift the customers’ dining experience and drive long-term growth,” Garcia says.

“Eight-8-Ate’s tagline is ‘Delighting Generations.’ As two reputable brands that have been around for a long time, it is serendipitous that Wendy’s mission to ‘Delight Every Customer’ aligns with Conti’s ‘Delightfully Yours ’ slogan. With these two brands under Eight-8-Ate, we aim to capture not just a bigger share of stomach, but moreover, bigger share of delight,” adds Uy