Wingstop Lands in France

DALLAS, Sept. 28, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wingstop Restaurants Inc. WING, the award-winning wing concept with more than 1,000 locations worldwide, today announced that it is extending its global reach by expanding into France. The Company has entered into a franchise agreement with a newly created entity under Brescia Investissement SAS. During the next 12 years, more than 70 restaurants will open across France with the first Wingstop set to open in Southern France by mid-2018.

Brescia Investissement SAS was founded by company president Francesco Brescia, a former longtime franchisee of McDonald's, who developed multiple locations across Marseille and Southern France from 1986 to 2015. Together with general manager and son Stephane Brescia and their team, they are focused on bringing iconic American brands to France, and are enthusiastic about entering the fast-growing chicken category.

"This is a very exciting project for us and our team," said Francesco. "The chicken category is underserved in France, and we know Wingstop's proven success can be replicated here in the region. Our 30 years' experience in the sector has refined our supply chain relationships and refined our real estate, marketing and financial capabilities, placing us in a strong position to rapidly expand the Wingstop brand."

"Our expansion into France increases our presence in Europe after the announcement of the United Kingdom deal earlier this year, and with scaled synergies establishes a foundation for additional growth in the region," said Larry Kruguer, president of international at Wingstop. "The Brescia family is passionate about the restaurant business and we believe their efforts will allow us to fully tap in to the growing demand for quality chicken in France. The dynamic changes in local consumer demographics and tastes fit perfectly with our mission to serve the world flavor as we aim to become a top 10 global restaurant brand."

Openings in France will mark the thirteenth international market outside of the United States; and the eighth new market announced during the past 12 months.

About Wingstop

Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Wingstop Inc. WING operates and franchises more than 1,000 locations across the United States, Mexico, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. The Wing Experts' menu features classic and boneless wings with 11 bold, distinctive flavors including Original Hot, Cajun, Atomic, Mild, Teriyaki, Lemon Pepper, Hawaiian, Garlic Parmesan, Hickory Smoked BBQ, Louisiana Rub, and Mango Habanero. Wingstop's wings are always cooked to order, hand-sauced and tossed and served with a variety of house-made sides including fresh-cut, seasoned fries. Having grown its domestic same store sales for 13 consecutive years, the Company has been ranked #3 on the "Top 100 Fastest Growing Restaurant Chains" by Nation's Restaurant News (2016), #7 on the "Top 40 Fast Casual Chains" by Restaurant Business (2016), and was named "Best Franchise Deal in North America" by QSR magazine (2014).  Wingstop was ranked #88 on Fortune's 100 Best Medium Workplaces list in October 2016. Follow us on facebook.com/Wingstop and Twitter @Wingstop.

Certain statements contained in this news release, as well as other information provided from time to time by Wingstop Inc. or its employees, may contain forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward looking statements. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as "guidance," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "project," "plan," "intend," "believe," "confident," "may," "should," "can have," "likely," "future" and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of the timing or nature of future operating or financial performance or other events.

Any such forward looking statements are not guarantees of performance or results, and involve risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond the Company's control) and assumptions. Although we believe any forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors could affect our actual financial results and cause them to differ materially from those anticipated in any forward-looking statements. Please refer to the risk factors discussed in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, which can be found at the SEC's website www.sec.gov. The discussion of these risks is specifically incorporated by reference into this news release.

Any forward-looking statement made by Wingstop Inc. in this press release speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

Media Contact

Brian Bell

972-707-3956

bbell@wingstop.com

Investor Contact

Raphael Gross

203-682-8253

raphael.gross@icrinc.com