This is what $1 billion chicken tastes like
How a family-run Granville staple grew into the most coveted bird in private equity.
If you ask a bunch of Sydneysiders where to get the city's best Lebanese charcoal chicken (and its non-negotiable accompaniment, garlic sauce or 'toum') odds are a good chunk of them will cite the grand rooster of them all: El Jannah. If you asked them in the late '90s or early 2000s, they would've been referring to the low-key Granville original which was launched by two Lebanese immigrants, Andre and Carole Estephan, in 1998. Ask almost any time after that, and they would more than likely mean the one around the corner from their home or work, as the brand has since exploded to more than 50 branches in Sydney, regional NSW, Victoria and the ACT. Even Randwick has one now, which looks and tastes exactly like the ones out west only with noticeably more labradoodles waiting on the footpath outside.
Last week, the Estephans' chickens came home to roost. They handed the business over to New York-based private equity firm General Atlantic at an enterprise valuation near enough to $1 billion (according to The Australian Financial Review it was $1 billion; The Australian said $800 million; we hear it was $850 million; who to believe?). The family will retain a 45 per cent stake and there are plans to roll out at least another 150 stores nationwide, including drive-thrus.
So what does billion dollar chicken taste like?
