March 31 (Reuters) - Canada's Cara Operations Ltd CAO.TO ,
owner of the Swiss Chalet casual dining chain and Harvey's
burger outlets, said on Thursday it would buy St-Hubert BBQ, one
of Quebec's largest casual dining chains, for C$537 million
($415 million).
Toronto-based Cara, Canada's largest operator of
full-service restaurants, went public a year ago and had
indicated it was looking to expand through acquisitions.
Analysts had flagged privately held St-Hubert as one of the
most likely targets for Cara, which is controlled by dealmaker
Prem Watsa's Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd FFH.TO .
Both Swiss Chalet and St-Hubert are known for rotisserie
chicken meals, but the two chains share little geographic
overlap as most of St-Hubert's restaurants are in Quebec, where
Swiss Chalet does not have a presence.
Cara has said it wants to boost revenue to between C$2.5
billion and $C3 billion in five to seven years, up from C$1.7
billion in 2014.
The acquisition of St-Hubert, which had system sales of
C$620 million in 2015, will move Cara much closer to that
target.
The move also gives Cara an opportunity to expand its
offerings through grocery stores, where St-Hubert sells products
such as marinades, pot pies, seasonings and desserts.
($1 = 1.29 Canadian dollars)