Wingstop to Open 30 Locations in Malaysia DALLAS

DALLAS, April 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wingstop Restaurants Inc. (NASDAQ: WING ), the award-winning wing concept with more than 1000 locations worldwide, today announced that it has entered into an international expansion agreement with The Great Fundamentals Sdn. Bhd. to open 30 franchise locations in Malaysia over the next six years with the first restaurant set to open later in 2017.  Siswanto, lead managing partner for the local franchisee, has been a successful entrepreneur and operator within the local F&B (food and beverage) and entertainment sectors since 2001.

Prior to heading up The Great Fundamentals Sdn. Bhd., Siswanto created and led the AUM Hospitality (AUMH) group, which has various homegrown local brands such as The Library Coffee Bar, The South East and Ichiban - The Izakaya. AUMH also added the franchise rights for American brands Johnny Rockets and Quiznos, as well as Singapore-based brand Franco. Under Siswanto’s leadership, AUMH grew to be one of the fastest growing F&B groups in Malaysia with 70 outlets across 10 brands.

“We look forward to partnering with The Great Fundamentals in the development of these 30 new Wingstop locations,” said Larry Kruguer, President of International at Wingstop. “Our success in Southeast Asia since first launching in late 2013 has generated over 30 locations across Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore with great consumer reaction and buzz about the brand. Malaysians are passionate consumers of chicken and this market will enhance our presence in the region while further fulfilling Wingstop’s mission to ‘Serve the World Flavor.’”

“We're honored to be a part of the Wingstop family as it is certainly one of the most exciting American restaurant brands to be introduced to Malaysia in recent memory,” said Siswanto, Managing Partner at The Great Fundamentals Sdn. Bhd. “We are confident that the Wingstop experience will resonate very well with Malaysians.”

Wingstop is a U.S. based restaurant brand with a sole focus on freshly prepared, cooked-to-order, hand-sauced and tossed chicken wings and side dishes. Malaysia will mark Wingstop’s ninth international market outside of the United States with recent announcements including Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Colombia and Panama currently under development and opening later this year. For more information on Wingstop franchising, visit www.wingstop.com/own-a-wingstop/ . 

About Wingstop Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Wingstop Inc. (NASDAQ: WING ) operates and franchises more than 1,000 restaurants across the United States, Mexico, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates. 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. For more information visit www.wingstop.com  or www.wingstopfranchise.com .  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