T.G.I. Friday's and Americana Group, a licensed franchisee of T.G.I. Friday's and the Kuwait-based Middle East operator of several brands in quick service, coffee, casual dining and other food-related products, today announced that they have renewed the development agreement to build the T.G.I. Friday's brand in the Middle East. The development agreement will result in an additional 30 T. G. I. Friday's restaurants over the next five years in the Middle East, making Friday's one of the leaders in American casual-dining in the region.

"A core component of T.G.I. Friday's overall growth strategy is identifying the right partners who can help us reach our goals," says Ian Saunders, president and chief operating officer, T.G.I. Friday's International. "We have established a tremendous relationship with Americana, and this new development agreement emphasizes the strength of our partnership, a partnership that will add 30 new Friday's restaurants to this thriving region."

Americana, whose territory encompasses Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the UAE, owns and operates 36 T.G.I. Friday's restaurants as well as Krispy Kreme, Costa coffee, KFC, Pizza Hut and Hardee's locations.