ALISO VIEJO, Calif. – Johnny Rockets announced a franchise agreement that will open 10 Johnny Rockets restaurants in Colombia over the next 10 years.

The first restaurant will be in Bogota, Colombia's capital city. The franchisees are Roxana Garces and Jaime Lopez, both veterans in finance. The wife-and-husband team were stock brokers in the institutional and private-banking arenas, respectively, for more than 23 years.

“As the second-most populated country in South America with more than 45 million residents, Colombia represents a very viable market for our iconic, all-American brand,” said Steve Devine, president of Johnny Rockets International. “The Colombian people are very receptive to our culture, the economy is conducive to growth and we have two franchise partners who are passionate about bringing Johnny Rockets to their country. We see tremendous opportunities here, as well as in Brazil, Peru and Ecuador where we've also signed franchise agreements over the past year.”