Good story takes a bad twist
Even with the 300-store Chesanyama in its ranks, this food franchise company has been unable to fulfil its promises
When Gold Brands came to the market in February 2016 its founders, Efpraxia and Stylianos Nathanael, hyped it as being well on its way to becoming the leading fast-food franchise company in SA and internationally.
In reality they were bringing to market a micro-cap company destined to inflict serious financial harm upon its shareholders and franchisees.
But back in 2016 the Nathanaels seemingly had a good story to tell. It was made more plausible by the emphasis placed on their sale of The Fish & Chip Co franchise business they had founded in 2009 to Taste Holdings in January 2012 for R66m.
What they failed to mention was that shortly after the sale they attempted, according to Taste, to have the deal cancelled.
The end result was three years of litigation, after which Taste emerged victorious.
Be that as it may, there were those gullible enough to fall for the Nathanaels’ line in 2016. Gold Brands’ initial public offer at R1 a share raised R25m and in a scramble for shares on its first day of listing on the JSE Altx board its price spiked as high as R2.
Gold Brands came to market with five brands — spearheaded by Chesanyama, which the Nathanaels had launched in 2012 and grown into a chain of more than 300 franchise stores. The brand offers local fare including liver and kasi pap, spicy cabbage and beef stew.
Also in Gold Brands’ line-up at the time of its listing was Black Steer, a 17-store steakhouse chain; and insignificant start-up brands Chicken
In a desperate attempt to stay afloat, Gold Brands has announced the sale of Black Steer for R3.2m