‘We are not selling out’: El Jannah’s new investor is a $180 billion US giant

Lebanese chicken chain El Jannah has big, bold dreams: conquer Australia, then the world, starting with its cultural motherland of Lebanon.

To get there, the swiftly growing charcoal-fired empire that began as a small outlet in western Sydney 27 years ago has chosen an investor in US investment giant General Atlantic, an asset manager of some $180 billion, after years of being circled by deep-pocketed prospective backers.

But there is one thing El Jannah’s chief marketing officer, Adam Issa, would like to make clear. “We are not in any way, shape or form selling out,” he said.

“There [are] 101 different burger chains, pizza chains out there. There is not a lot, if any, [of] charcoal chicken brands out there. There [are] not a lot of Lebanese brands out there,” Issa said.

“We want to make sure that people get to taste El Jannah, the true Lebanese charcoal chicken, garlic sauce.”

General Atlantic has bought a controlling share of the charcoal chicken chain for an undisclosed sum that leaves El Jannah chief executive Brett Houldin and husband-and-wife founders Andre and Carole Estephan retaining a “substantial minority stake”. The company declined to disclose figures.

The Estephans opened the first El Jannah in Granville in 1998 and had five locations across western Sydney by 2020. Word of mouth compelled people to drive across town for El Jannah, challenging incumbents such as Oporto, Red Rooster and Chargrill Charlie’s of parent group Craveable Brands.

Houldin led Craveable for three years, and in that capacity, unsuccessfully attempted to acquire El Jannah, Issa said. After Houldin sold Craveable Brands to Hong Kong-headquartered PAG Asia Capital, Estephan rang him and asked him to lead El Jannah. He has been instrumental in rapidly accelerating the chain’s footprint and bringing corporate franchise-level operational and marketing standards.

Manhattan-based General Atlantic was chosen for its shared ethos, Issa said. Founder Chuck Feeney, who pioneered duty-free shopping, established the investment firm to fund his philanthropic organisation. Feeney gave away $US8 billion ($12.2 billion) of his personal wealth.

‘It makes me upset to think that ... our Lebanese originals, or those in the area, as we say, would think that we would leave who we are.’

El Jannah chief marketing officer Adam Issa

“They are very picky themselves about who they also tend to invest with,” Issa said. “It’s not always about the money, it’s sometimes about giving back. And that’s something that aligns directly with us being Lebanese, and our hospitality of always making sure that we give back.”

The US outfit will help El Jannah fast-track restaurant footprint goals from 200 to 500 in about eight years and enter Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. A new store is opened at a rate of every two or three weeks.

El Jannah’s leaders are aware of some criticisms (usually from other Lebanese diaspora or locals from western Sydney or surrounds) that it has departed from its roots as a mum-and-pop diner. Issa is defiant that it has not and will not.

“[General Atlantic] fell in love with what we do, and that’s why they’re the perfect partner, because they wanted to change nothing at all,” Issa said.

“We are probably one of the only Lebanese brands at this scale nationally, but also most likely globally, [that] are playing with some of the biggest players in the world. And that’s something to be proud of.

“It makes me upset to think that the Lebanese, our Lebanese originals, or those in the area, as we say, would think that we would leave who we are.”

Looking abroad, El Jannah would like to return to those roots sooner rather than later. “I think it’d be beautiful to do a full circle and go back to the Middle East,” Issa says.

“I think [founder] Andre [Estephan] would love nothing more. As a migrant himself, he left his country and came here for a better life and built something amazing, introduced a lot of Australians to charcoal chicken.

“Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, I think all of [the Middle East and North Africa] is an open market for us. There’s nothing more beautiful than going back to our homeland.”

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