Muhammad Ali Rotisserie Chicken Inc., based in Baltimore, said it signed a contract to open two Egyptian restaurants next year.
The first is scheduled to start serving in June in Cairo; the second will open in another Egyptian location by the end of the year, the company said.
Muhammad Ali Rotisserie Chicken also said that it agreed with American Egyptian for International Trading Co. to develop eight more restaurants over the next 10 years, all of them in Egypt.
And the company is working on deals in South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore and Saudi Arabia as well as eyeing other sites in the United States, said Talib Rashada, president and chief executive officer.
The company, of which former boxing champ Mr. Ali is a partner, opened its first restaurant a year ago at City Place Mall in Silver Spring. It has tried to capitalize on the rotisserie chicken-takeout trend that also has boosted Kenny Rogers Roasters and Boston Market.
Its logo features a butterfly and a bee -- a reference to the Champ's self-described "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" boxing style. Its slogan is, "The Colonel won't know what hit him."
