Earth Capital will pay $47 per share for Papa John’s International, sources told Reuters news agency.
Published on 12 March 2026
Qatari-backed investment fund Earth Capital this month offered $47 per share to buy pizza chain Papa John’s International, marking its second takeover attempt after a previous bid last year with Apollo Global Management, Reuters news agency reported.
The offer values the company at $1.5bn. Irth already owns roughly 10 percent of the company, half of which is in products, a source said.
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Irth declined Al Jazeera’s request for comment, citing legal reasons.
There is no certainty that Papa John’s will accept Irth’s offer, which is under review, and another bidder could emerge, said two of the sources, who could not speak publicly about the private negotiations. Papa John’s stock price rose nearly 20 percent to close at $38.86 after The Wall Street Journal first reported news of the bid.
Reuters reported in November that private equity giant Apollo Global had withdrawn its offer to take the pizza giant private for $64 a share.
Following this development, activist investor Irenic Capital Management built a stake in Papa John’s, adding to growing speculation about the future of the pizza chain.
Apollo and Earth Capital Management submitted a joint offer of more than $60 per share for the company early last year, before Apollo submitted a solo bid in early October, Reuters previously reported. Irth is no longer working with Apollo and its proposal includes backing from Brookfield Asset Management, one of the sources said.
Irth was founded in 2024 and is backed by members of the Qatari royal family, led by co-founders Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Thani and Matthew Bradshaw.
The Papa John’s deal was one of its first major transactions.
Papa John’s opened in Jeffersonville, Indiana in 1984 and went public in 1993. It is trying a turnaround strategy after years of struggling with weak demand under multiple CEOs.
(tags to translate)Economy
