International Meal Company (IMC) is pleased to announce its first joint venture entry into the United States restaurant market. In an effort to expand and strengthen its existing strategic relationship, IMC has joined forces with Margaritaville Enterprises, a leading destination restaurant company.
Under the agreement, IMC is purchasing domestic restaurant assets of Margaritaville, including the iconic Las Vegas location at the Flamingo hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, and the operations of 12 signature Margaritaville and LandShark Bar and Grill locations throughout the U.S. As part of its strategic alliance with IMC, Margaritaville will continue to play an on-going role in the restaurant business and provide branding, development, and other services.
IMC has successfully worked with the Margaritaville brand since 2010. IMC owns and operates Margaritaville franchise locations at airports in Puerto Rico and Panama, with future locations coming to Sao Paulo, Brasilia, and Viracopos, Brazil, in 2014. Additionally, in conjunction with Margaritaville, IMC has future plans to open additional restaurants across the country, including airports and other captive market locations.
As part of this strategic alliance, IMC will have exclusive rights to develop and own Margaritaville venues in the United States and Latin America. At these current and future locations, IMC will continue to work within the overall brand management framework of Margaritaville Enterprises that has been successfully created over the years.
"Now our success in the restaurant business is taking us all on a new and exciting voyage with our new friends and partners at IMC," Jimmy Buffett says of the alliance. "Our relationship with CEO Javier Gavilan, chairman Juan Carlos Torres, and all the people at IMC over the past several years in our operations in the Caribbean and Central America have set the stage for this new phase, and I only see good things for our friends, our employees, and most of all our customers happening as a result of this arrangement."
"This strategic alliance is about growing a powerful brand, in segments where we have a lot of experience and a proven track record; airports will be our first priority to develop this great brand and we have already found some very exciting opportunities," says Javier Gavilan, CEO of IMC.
Margaritaville Enterprises' CEO John Cohlan adds, "We have built all of our businesses on great strategic partnerships. As we came to know Javier and the IMC group better from developing our international locations, we realized what a great opportunity it would be for both organizations to expand our partnership and grow our businesses together."
