Round Table Pizza, a leading pizza brand from California, wants to debut in the Thai market this year.
The company assigned Vietnam Franchises, a consulting firm, to help find an investor in the Thai food business to become its master franchisee.
"Though the pizza business in Thailand is very fierce with several local and international brands, the market is still attractive for newcomers and pizza is a very common food here," said Sean Ngo, managing director of Vietnam Franchises.
Round Table fancies itself a gourmet pizza chain that uses fresh cheese, meat and dough.
There are about 500 Round Table outlets globally and the company plans to open its first store in India later this year. The firm wants 50 branches in India in three years and 20 in Vietnam.
It also plans to open 20 branches each in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Investors interested in applying to become a franchisee of Round Table Pizza need to pay between US$350,000 to $450,000 for a licensing fee, good for a minimum of 10 branches under a five to seven year contract.
He added the US pizza market is likely saturated, while the middle class is growing quickly in Asean, creating an opportunity.
Mr Ngo is also a representative of Denny's, a full-service coffee shop & family restaurant chain. It operates over 1,500 restaurants in the US and other countries.
Denny's is known for serving breakfast, lunch and dinner around the clock. Operating for over 57 years, Denny's serves over 26 million guests a month. Denny's is ranked as a top 10 US franchise by Entrepreneur magazine.
The chain has agreements to debut in China, Indonesia and South Korea in the near future, and talks are underway in Thailand.
Several Thai businessmen are interested in Denny's and Round Table Pizza, but Vietnam Franchises wants only one company to apply to be a master franchisee for all five brands in its portfolio.