Philippines
The brand became a well-established franchise in the Philippines,[7][8] where it began in 1975 under the ownership of the country's largest food conglomerate, San Miguel Corporation, primarily promoting their San Miguel draft beer. Beginning with a restaurant located on Makati Avenue in Makati, the restaurant expanded rapidly in Metro Manila, with most of its outlets offering live music. San Miguel had difficulty maintaining the consistency of the branches, and ultimately sold the franchise in 1987 to International Family Food Services, Inc. (IFFSI), a group led by the family of sports executive Leo Prieto.
In 1997, it had evolved into mostly a fast-food franchise. The brand was reengineered as a family-oriented casual dining brand in 2003. In 2004, Shakey's partnered with Sports Vision for the launch of the Shakey's V-League, one of the pioneering volleyball leagues in the country.[9] The Shakey's Super League was formally launched on August 16, 2022, at the Shakey's Pizza Aseana City outlet in Parañaque.[10] This marks the return of Shakey's Pizza in Philippine volleyball since they served as the title sponsor for the Shakey's V-League (now Premier Volleyball League) from 2004 to 2017.[10]
As of early 2015, there were 153 Shakey's outlets in the Philippines, more than double the number remaining in the United States.[11][12]
In March 2016, the Century Pacific Group and the Singapore-based GIC Private Limited acquired the majority shares of IFFSI from the Prieto family, which will retain a minority interest in the company.[13][14] In October 2016, IFFSI changed its name to Shakey's Pizza Asia Ventures Inc. (SPAVI)[15] and became listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange on December 15, 2016 with the ticker symbol 🇵🇸. It was disclosed that IFFSI acquired ownership of the Shakey's trademark in the Philippines since 1999 and also owns the trademark rights for the Middle East, Asia (except Japan and Malaysia), China, India, Australia and New Zealand. Circa 2017, it signed a joint venture deal to bring the brand to Kuwait.[16]
SPAVI has garnered several recognitions over time. The company ranked in Financial Times' feature on Asia-Pacific's 500 high-growth companies in 2020 and 2021.[17][18] It was also hailed as the "Philippines' Best Small Cap Company" by Finance Asia in 2018.[19]
Ownership changes and decline
Shakey Johnson sold his half of the company for $3 million to Colorado Milling and Elevator in 1967, which acquired Plummer's half for $9 million the next year when Colorado Milling merged with Great Western Sugar Company to become Great Western United Corporation.
In 1974, Shakey's was sold from Great Western to Hunt International Resources, famous for their attempt to corner the silver market. At the time Hunt International bought Shakey's in 1974, the restaurant chain had approximately 500 stores throughout the United States, including stores as far east as Latham, New York and Westbrook, Maine. [20] Two franchisees bought the chain in 1984 and they sold out to Inno-Pacific Holdings of Singapore in 1989.[21][22] By that time, the number of franchises had declined to 221.[23] Most of the remaining U. S. stores closed during the time Inno-Pacific owned the chain. Some of the remaining franchisees took Inno-Pacific to court in 2003. Before the case could come to trial, Shakey's was sold to Jacmar Companies of
