Valentin Budeș, CFO, Sphera Franchise Group: „Ongoing improvement in investor communication is a priority for us and this has been also evidenced by the awards received at the Gala by ARIR, based on the votes of institutional investors. Joining the ARIR community aligns with our continuous focus on transparency, which is essential for building a trustful relationship with shareholders for the development of the business.”

Daniela Maior (Șerban), President and Co-Founder, ARIR: “We are pleased to welcome a new company from the BET index to ARIR to strengthen the expertise within our community and consolidate the views of the most active listed companies. ARIR is the first platform in Romania dedicated to education, interaction, and advocacy in the field of Investor Relations, which, over the past nearly six years, has been involved in numerous initiatives for the development of the capital market.”

Sphera Franchise Group owns the franchise operations for the KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell brands in Romania, the KFC brand in Chișinău, Moldova, and is the largest operator of the KFC brand in Italy. The group operates over 170 restaurants across these three markets and employs approximately 5,000 people. Sphera Franchise Group has been listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange since November 2017. SFG shares are included in the local benchmark indices BET and BET-TR and MSCI indices for Frontier Markets.

ARIR members are among the largest companies in Romania, which share the objective of implementing best practices of transparency, investor communication, and corporate governance.