The future of O達riens Irish Sandwich Bars is set to be secured this week, with fast food entrepreneur Graeme Beere poised to finance a rescue package for the business.

Beere, the businessman behind the Abrakebabra and Bagel Factory franchises, has agreed to team up with Brody Sweeney, the founder of the O達riens chain, to bail out the business. It went into examinership in July with liabilities of €6.4 million.

Heads of agreement are due to be signed early next week, and a scheme of arrangement will then be put to the company痴 creditors for approval. As part of the deal, creditors will be asked to write off a significant portion of what they are owed by O達riens. The investment by Beere was authorised by Bank of Ireland, the main creditor of O達riens.

If it is approved by the other creditors, it will be put to the High Court for formal ratification. The deal came following negotiations between Beere and Paul McCann, the Grant Thornton accountant who is acting as examiner to the O達riens business. Beere initially lodged a bid for the whole group, but has now agreed to work with Sweeney, who established the group 21 years ago and oversaw its expansion across Ireland and abroad.

Sweeney, a former general election candidate for Fine Gael, will have his shareholding reduced significantly under the deal, as will the firm痴 other shareholders. They include businessman Tom Jones and clients of Merrion Stockbrokers in Dublin. Through their holding company, Abrakebabra Investments, Beere and his business partner, the concert promoter Denis Desmond, control a range of food franchises. As well as Abrakebabra and Bagel Factory, they include the Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Yo! Sushi and Chick King.

Beere plans to work with Sweeney to develop the O達riens brand and restore it to profitability. He was selected as the preferred bidder ahead of a number of other interested parties, including several corporate finance houses and other trade players. Sweeney was keen to remain with the business, and the majority of the company痴 franchisees indicated they would prefer him to stay on after the examinership. O達riens Irish Sandwich Bars has 85 franchised stores across Ireland, employing more than 800 people.

The franchise has suffered over the past few years, partly because of its structure. Unusually for a master franchise, O達riens holds the head leases on most of the 85 stores around the country, and then subleases out the locations to its individual franchisees. However, a number of stores have struggled to pay their rents, leaving the main holding company exposed.