Morrison & Foerster represented MTY Food Group, a leading franchisor in the North American restaurant industry, in its definitive merger agreement with Papa Murphy's Holdings, Inc. Under the agreement, MTY will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock of Papa Murphy's for US$6.45 per share, with a total transaction value of approximately US$190 million.
Papa Murphy's is a franchisor and operator of the largest Take 'n' Bake pizza brand and the fifth largest pizza chain in the United States. Papa Murphy's was founded in 1981 and operated 1,331 franchised and 106 corporate-owned stores in 37 U.S. states, Canada and the United Arab Emirates as of December 31, 2018.
The MoFo deal team was led by Steve Rowles, chair of the firm's San Diego Corporate Group, and included San Francisco M&A partner Michael O'Bryan and San Diego associates Shai Kalansky and Brennen Brodersen.