CARROLLTON, Texas – 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 leading global brands in quick service, casual dining and other food-related products, have renewed the development agreement to build upon the success of the T.G.I. Friday's brand in the Middle East. As a result, an additional 30 T. G. I. Friday's restaurants are plant to be built over the next five years in the Middle East, making Friday's one of the leaders in American casual dining in this 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," said 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, currently owns and operates 36 T.G.I. Friday's restaurants.

T.G.I. Friday's operates more than 900 restaurants in more than 60 countries and is part of Carlson, a privately held, global hospitality and travel company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn

Americana is the Middle East's most successful group of companies operating consumer foods, restaurants and food-related products. The Americana Group operates more than 1,200 restaurants with more than 45,000 employees from 21 nationalities across 14 countries between the Atlantic Ocean and Caspian Sea. The Americana Group operates international franchises like T.G.I. Friday's, KFC, Pizza Hut and Hardee's.