Masar Exo partnership to support restaurant and café franchising in Saudi Arabia

The Restaurant and Café Owners Association has signed a strategic partnership agreement with franchise specialist Masar Exo to support investors and help brand owners explore expansion opportunities. The announcement, published by Saudi Franchise on 14 November 2026, reported two agreements, including a separate partnership with Imtithal, aimed at developing the services available to restaurant and café owners in Saudi Arabia.

A partnership for investors and brand owners

The Masar Exo agreement focuses on strengthening cooperation to support and empower investors, and on developing the hospitality franchise sector. The announcement links this cooperation to helping brand owners explore growth and expansion opportunities — the objective most directly relevant to Saudi Arabia’s franchise community across the two agreements.

According to the report, Masar Exo specialises in franchising. Its partnership with the association forms part of an effort to broaden ties with specialist organisations, supporting services for businesses and opening up opportunities to work with investors and restaurant and café brands operating in Saudi Arabia.

The announcement does not concern the award of a franchise for a particular brand or contracts to open new outlets. Instead, it describes a cooperation agreement intended to support the environment in which brands and investors operate. This distinction is essential to understanding its scope: the partnership concerns services and professional relationships, rather than confirmed operational expansion or investment opportunities with defined terms.

The agreement places brand owners and investors at the centre of the cooperation, while recognising their different roles in the franchise journey. The announcement combines investor support with help for brands exploring expansion, but does not set out separate services for each group or a mechanism for matching them.

Imtithal agreement complements service development

Alongside the franchise agreement, the association signed a partnership with Imtithal to strengthen cooperation and develop services for business owners. The announcement refers to drawing on the company’s specialist capabilities and experience to meet the needs of restaurants and cafés and improve the services available to them.

The stated focus of this agreement differs from that of the Masar Exo partnership. The Imtithal agreement addresses business services more broadly, while the Masar Exo agreement explicitly identifies franchising, investor support and potential brand expansion as its objectives. The two agreements are therefore best understood as separate strands of the association’s efforts to diversify its partnerships, rather than a single programme with a detailed service offering.

The report did not list the services Imtithal would provide or describe any joint packages involving the two companies and the association. Specific services, such as legal advice, franchise documentation or funding, therefore cannot be attributed to either agreement without a further announcement confirming them. What has been announced is a framework for cooperation on service development, with a clear focus on franchising in the Masar Exo partnership.

Signing coincides with a specialist event

The Masar Exo agreement was signed to coincide with the SAUDI FRANCHISE LIVE exhibition. The announcement links this timing to making use of the opportunities offered by specialist franchise events and strengthening communication and cooperation between the organisations involved.

The exhibition provides the context for the signing; the substance of the announcement is the cooperation between the association and the company. No figures were provided for investor enquiries or participating brands, nor were any franchise agreements resulting from the cooperation reported. It is therefore more accurate to describe the move as a partnership to support growth opportunities than as expansion already achieved.

For Saudi Arabia’s franchise community, the announcement highlights links between business owners’ associations and specialist organisations as one possible way to support brands. Assessing the impact of this particular partnership, however, will depend on subsequent details of its implementation and services, rather than simply on its signing alongside an event for those interested in franchising.

What does the announcement mean for business owners?

The key practical point is that a new partnership is intended to support investors and brand owners, alongside a parallel initiative to improve business services. The published report did not explain how to access that support, the eligibility requirements or when services would become available. Nor did it specify where in Saudi Arabia the agreements would be implemented or name any participating brands.

For a restaurant or café owner considering expansion, it is useful to distinguish between the partnership’s aims and services that can actually be requested. The stated aim is to support growth and explore opportunities; an investment decision requires clarity on the scope of support, who will provide it, and any associated requirements or costs. These are questions to check before relying on the partnership in an expansion plan, not conditions announced by the parties.

Practical takeaway: Follow updates on the implementation of the association’s partnership with Masar Exo, and clarify the services and eligibility requirements before incorporating it into a franchise plan. The agreement sets a direction for cooperation, but does not amount to a ready-to-take-up franchise opportunity or a guarantee of expansion.