Telepizza () is a Spanish multinational pizza restaurant chain. As of 2017 it is the largest pizza chain not originating in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

by number of stores. Telepizza was founded as "Pizza Phone" in 1987 by Leopoldo Fernández Pujals, a

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

n-born American businessman, in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

's El Pilar neighbourhood. By 1995 it had 200 locations in Spain with a 52%

market share Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a Market (economics), market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those ...

. The company had factories in the Spanish cities of

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Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Móstoles, and Alcobendas, but those were later sold and all production was moved to a factory in Daganzo de Arriba,

. The pizza base is distributed from the factories to the different stores. Leopoldo Fernández was forced to pawn his house, take out loans, and even endure a October 1995 "board coup" orchestrated by his brother Eduardo and other minority shareholders, which led to his removal as chairman. By late June 1996, he returned to lead Telepizza with the backing of BBVA, then the company’s third-largest shareholder. On November 13, 1996, the company went public, becoming the first in its sector to list on the Spanish stock exchange. At the time, Telepizza was the leader in home-delivered pizza, with 233 outlets in Spain and a presence in

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. Throughout 1999, Leopoldo Fernández gradually sold his stake in the company, triggering a cumulative 44.64% decline in shares. On October 22, he sold his remaining 30.25% stake (over 10 million shares) off-market at a 15% discount, pocketing 50 billion pesetas. Hours earlier, trading was suspended by the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) due to a leaked announcement. Control of the company shifted to Pedro Ballvé ( Campofrío Food Group) and José Carlos Olcese ( TeleChef, itself controlled by Campofrío). Pujals justified his abrupt departure by stating: “To dedicate himself fully to the cause of defending

Human Rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and to ensure that this activity would never negatively impact Telepizza.” As of 2010, Telepizza has 1025 outlets worldwide; thereof 603 stores in Spain and 422 in markets such as

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

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Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, and

. In 2010, Telepizza bought the

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

n chain Jeno's Pizza.Loeda, Roberto C. (1 June 2010)
Telepizza entra en Colombia con la adquisición de Jeno's Pizza
''Alimarket'' In April 2016, Telepizza completed an IPO reported to be valued at euro 550 million. Prior to its IPO, the company was owned by the founding Ballvé family and private equity fund Permira. In 2017, it opened its first establishment in the United Kingdom. In July 2017, the company opened its first store in

and with projections to open two more in December of the same year, it was the first store opened in

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

and the second in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. Since November 2017, Telepizza opened its two stores in

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. In 2023, Telepizza decided not to renew the Master Franchise contract with Pollo Campero in

and

, and the operations began to run under the name Pizza Campero. A similar situation occurred in

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

, where Telepizza's operations in that country were rebranded as Tpizza. In January 2025, Telepizza announced the closure of its operations in Chile after 29 years in the country. This was due to economic, competitive and financial reasons that hindered its projection as a pizza chain throughout the territory.

References

External links

Telepizza official site in Spain
{{Restaurants in Spain Pizza chains Permira companies Restaurants in Spain Restaurants established in 1987 1987 establishments in Spain 2010 mergers and acquisitions 2016 initial public offerings Food and drink companies based in Madrid Fast-food restaurants Companies of Spain Publicly traded companies Pizza franchises San Sebastián de los Reyes Multinational food companies Restaurant chains in Spain Multinational restaurant chains