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STAN Gordon has stepped forward as a suitor for embattled pizza chain Eagle Boys.
"Are we the right guys? I think we are," Gordon, the owner of Melbourne-based Franchise Food Company, tells Business News Australia.
Gordon is the first to step forward as a potential buyer since the administrators arrived. He previously made a bid for the company in November 2015, but it went unanswered.
"I would reposition the brand, it is a brand of yesteryear. It is fantastic for what it was, but the world has changed," he says.
"Looking at the larger players, such as Domino's, they have created brilliant businesses, and they are businesses run on tech. I would not want to compete in that market. It does need to find a new point of difference and technology is not it.
Gordon also sees Eagle Boys benefiting from the back-office engine room already established at Franchise Food Company, which owns seven brands: Cold Rock, Mr Whippy, Nutshack, Pretzel World, Europa Coffee, Trampoline Gelato and Healthy Habits.
Key to Gordon's pitch is 'fairness'.
Others, including the Gold Coast-based Retail Food Group (ASX:RFG), and Domino's, have been speculated as potential buyers, but RFG claims it is not interested and Domino's has refused to comment. New Zealand's Restaurant Brands is also in the mix. Private equity firms such as
Gordon said NBC had been looking for a buyer for the business since at least November 2015. An information memorandum was circulated to potential buyers that Gordon says was 'lacking in financial detail', but he still made a conditional offer for the business.
When asked if his November bid was too low, he replied: "The first bid we put in was stupidly high for what it was worth."
There are around 120 remaining Eagle Boys franchisees and they will continue operating while SV Partners looks for a buyer.
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