A family office evaluating a six-outlet casual-dining acquisition.

Cedar & Ember. Six outlets across Dubai. A Riyadh-based family office wants an operational due diligence layer on top of the financial and legal DD.

The question.

The family office is evaluating an acquisition of Cedar & Ember, a six-outlet casual-dining brand in Dubai. The seller's asking price is based on a trailing-twelve-month EBITDA multiple. Financial and legal due diligence are complete, but no one has assessed the physical kitchen infrastructure, equipment condition, compliance posture, or the operational cost trajectory.

The engagement.

Four weeks structured in three phases.

• Week 1. Site visits to all six outlets. Equipment condition audit (age, maintenance history, remaining useful life). Compliance check against Dubai Municipality Food Code 2.0. Kitchen layout and workflow assessment.
• Weeks 2 to 3. Operational cost modelling. Energy cost benchmarking per outlet. Staffing shape analysis. Maintenance CapEx projection for years one through three post-acquisition. Identify deferred maintenance that the current operator has not disclosed.
• Weeks 3 to 4. Final report with a go/renegotiate/walk recommendation, including a line-item CapEx schedule for the first 18 months.

What we found.

Four of six outlets had refrigeration units older than five years with no documented preventive maintenance history. In GCC ambient conditions (40C and above), compressors without maintenance fail at roughly twice the rate of maintained units. Replacement cost per outlet: AED 35,000 to 80,000.

Two outlets were operating with grease trap systems below the current Food Code 2.0 standard. Remediation cost: AED 15,000 to 25,000 per outlet. Non-remediation risk: fines up to AED 500,000 and potential license suspension.

Energy costs across the portfolio were 25 to 30% above the mid-sized kitchen benchmark of AED 8,000 per month, attributable to ageing equipment, no preventive maintenance, and HVAC overcompensation from kitchen heat leakage.

The seller's maintenance CapEx projection for years two and three was materially underfunded. Our estimate: AED 280,000 to 420,000 in deferred maintenance and compliance remediation across the portfolio in the first 18 months, not reflected in the asking price.

Recommendations.

• The acquisition is viable but the asking price does not reflect the deferred maintenance liability.
• Renegotiate with a price reduction of AED 300,000 to 400,000 to account for the 18-month CapEx requirement, or structure a holdback/escrow covering the remediation.
• Prioritise refrigeration replacement in the first 90 days post-acquisition: highest operational risk in summer months.
• Budget for grease trap remediation before the next municipality inspection cycle.