A beloved US burger franchise which had big plans to expand into Australia has entered voluntary administration.
Late yesterday, KPMG’s David Hardy, George Georges and Emily Seeckts were appointed administrators of CJ’s Group, which is the master licensee for Carl’s Jr in Australia.
The burger chain, which opened its first store in Australia in 2016, operates in dozens of countries around the world.
In Australia, Victorian-based CJ’s Group independently owns and operates 24 Carl’s Jr restaurants, KPMG said in a statement.
The group also serves as the master licensee to 25 Carl’s Jr restaurants independently owned and operated by third-party sub-licensees.
Those 25 are likely to remain largely unaffected by the new development, KPMG said.
They will be transitioned to a direct licensed relationship with CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc, which owns Carl’s Jr Restaurants.
All Queensland stores will remain open and unaffected.
“It’s business as usual for all Queensland restaurants which are in no way compromised by the financial position of CJ’s QSR’s, or its entry into Administration,” said a spokesperson for a the Queensland group of franchises.