Famous Brands
Famous Brands Limited is a public company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in South Africa. Its head offices are in Midrand, Johannesburg. The company is Africa's leading quick-service and casual dining restaurant franchisor. The company's global footprint of franchised stores spreads across the world, totaling 2782 stores (2017): South Africa 2270, Eswatini 6, Mauritius 21, Mozambique 3, Zimbabwe 9, Malawi 11, Angola 7, Zambia 42, Botswana 35, Namibia 50, Kenya 7, Ghana 1, Ethiopia 1, Nigeria 125, Sudan 6, Oman 1, UAE 8, Saudi Arabia 1, Egypt 5, Greece 1, Ireland 6 and  United Kingdom 166 (2017). Besides its core business activities of quick service and casual dining, the company is also involved in manufacturing and logistics with a focus on owning and managing the back-end supply chain of its restaurants. History. The company was founded by George Halamandres in the 1950s following a move to South Africa where he realized SA is in need of an American style steak house. Halamandres opened the first Steers steakhouse restaurant in the early 1960s. In the 1980s Halamandres' son John Halamandres became CEO and rapidly grew the Steers Steakhouse franchise as a fast food  takeaway restaurant. In 1994 the company listed on the JSE and in 1997 the company acquired the Debonairs Pizza franchise followed by the FishAways franchise in 1999. Brands. Famous Brands has acquired a large number of restaurant brands globally and in South Africa in particular by pursuing an aggressive brand acquisition strategy. In September 2016 the company acquired the British hamburger franchise Gourmet Burger Kitchen and its 75 restaurants for R2.1 billion (US$143.3 million).