At the turn of the last century, the pizza brand that dominated trading floors reshaped itself as Food Delivery Brands, fighting merely to stay afloat. It was a moment when scale mattered as much as imagination.
Fabián Martín, a chef who had earned global recognition as the world’s best pizza chef at the turn of the century, crossed paths with the Telepizza team. They invited his counsel and asked him what they should fear most. His reply was blunt: the real rival would not be McDonald’s, but frozen pizzas from supermarkets. Martín still recalls the moment: the room erupted in laughter. No one could have predicted the future. Two decades on, food delivery from every corner of the world would become ubiquitous.
November 13, 1996, Telepizza went public. The Madrid-born chain began in 1988 with a single storefront on Calle Cochabamba and grew into an overnight sensation. Delivering pizzas to homes proved to be a winning concept. At exchange rates of the time, the stock rose from 0.67 euros to 9.92 euros within two years before retreating. Professor Pablo Fernández of Iese estimated that the value created in the roughly eighteen months before the correction reached nearly 1.94 billion euros. The first shareholder, Leopoldo Fernández, eventually sold the remaining shares and shifted his focus toward telecommunications, horse breeding, and advocacy for human rights in Cuba.
Since then, Telepizza’s path has been defined by strategic shifts and changing ownership. Prominent families and investors have passed through its share registry. Pedro Ballvé, then head of Campofrío, bought Pujals’s stake along with brothers Aldo and José Carlos Olcese. In 2007, Telepizza left the stock market following a voluntary offer to delist, valuing the company at 715 million. Mutual funds joined in, including internationally recognized players such as KKR and Parmira. Early shareholders who benefited from favorable market conditions moved toward a public offering in April 2016 under Pablo Juántegui’s leadership. Shares fell sharply on the IPO day, signaling volatile times. Capital had grown from roughly 800 million to around 640 million over a short span. A few years later, with backing from KKR and funds linked to the March, Abelló, and Safra families, the decision was made to delist again, facing resistance from some investors and ongoing controversy. KKR alone held a controlling stake exceeding eighty percent of the company.
And the business strategy? It didn’t secure lasting traction. A partnership with Pizza Hut’s parent company, Yum!, shaped a path, but the pandemic disrupted the plan. The company carried debt that exceeded 400 million and faced approval for a Santander loan via an initial public offering. Control rested with a mix of international funds that held the company’s bonds: Oak Hill Advisors, Blantyre Capital, H.I.G. Capital, Fortress Investment Group, LL, and Treo Asset Management. Cast in financial jargon, it looked like a crowded alphabet soup of investors.
Since March 2021, under the executive chairmanship of Jacobo Caller, the company has undergone several rebuilds and rebrandings. It was renamed Food Delivery Brands; Telepizza sits under the umbrella of Pizza Hut, Apache in Ireland, and Jeno’s in Colombia. In the United States, business was realigned and debt ratings were downgraded, Moody’s assigning a speculative rating. The debt stood at about 240 million, with plans to dilute bondholders back toward shareholders. Participation from KKR remained a key factor in ongoing discussions. The creditors agreed not to charge interest on the primary debt until a specified window while financial restructuring continued. Revenue trends from the previous year showed a modest rise, and EBITDA remained positive before interest, debt service, and provisions were accounted for.
“What should the pizza concept and product look like to coexist with the competition in the industry? The answer lies in constant reinvention of the product. Marketing alone won’t carry it,” reflects Fabián Martín. Telepizza’s legacy endures in Spain, where it continued to lead the market with substantial pizza sales in 2022. The core remains the dough, the ingredients, and the craft behind each slice.
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