Retail food brand manager and franchisor, Retail Food Group, has announced that it will acquire the Donuts Coffee and Muffins (DCM) franchise system and will be reacquiring the Brumby’s Bakeries master franchise territories for North Queensland and New Zealand.

The acquisition of DCM is a strategic move, as it is a direct competitor to Donut King and comprises 23 outlets, predominantly in NSW.

At the company’s AGM, held today, CEO of Retail Food Group, Tony Alford said the company will ultimately look to re-brand DCM outlets and assimilate them within the Donut King network, “thereby accelerating total Donut King outlet population growth whilst affording DCM franchisees the opportunity to partake of the benefits that accrue from membership in a nationally established and iconic retail franchise brand.”

Alford explained that the Brumby’s North Queensland master franchise territory is the “best performing territory” for the franchise in Australia.

“Further, acquisition of the New Zealand master territory completes the reacquisition of all master rights in that country, so that the whole of the network therein is now ‘company managed'”.

There are currently 37 outlets within Brumby’s North Queensland territory and 19 outlets in New Zealand.

Alford said that because the outlets in these areas are already part of the Brumby’s Bakeries system, the reacquired franchises will experience “little structural or other changes in terms of the operational and other service support mechanisms”.

The acquisitions are expected to settle in January 2010.