Restaurants & Hospitality Acquisitions in 2021

Vail Resorts, Inc. has closed its acquisition of Seven Springs Mountain Resort, Hidden Valley Resort and Laurel Mountain Ski Area in Pennsylvania from Seven Springs Mountain Resort, Inc. and affiliates for approximately $118 million. The deal adds three regional ski areas (including lodging and conference facilities) to Vail's portfolio and will make the resorts available on select Epic Pass products to expand Vail's presence in the Pittsburgh and surrounding markets.

Booking Holdings Inc. completed its acquisition of Getaroom from Court Square Capital Partners for approximately $1.2 billion, folding the business into Priceline to form a new Strategic Partnerships unit. Getaroom will remain headquartered in Dallas and CEO Matt Davis will lead Priceline's Strategic Partnerships business unit.

MCR, the U.S. hotel owner-operator, acquired a six-property portfolio of Marriott and Hilton-branded hotels totaling 603 rooms across the Dallas–Fort Worth area and Santa Fe, New Mexico. The portfolio includes two Marriott-branded properties and four Hilton-branded properties, many of them recent-build and with a significant extended-stay/all-suite component.

Garnett Station Partners has recapitalized PJW Restaurant Group, the parent company of P.J. Whelihan's, providing growth capital to support expansion of its 26-restaurant portfolio across New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Comvest Credit Partners provided an $80 million senior secured credit facility to support the transaction; financial terms of the recapitalization were not disclosed. Founder Bob Platzer and the current management team are partnering with Garnett Station under the recapitalization agreement.

FAT Brands has acquired Fazoli's Group, Inc. from private equity firm Sentinel Capital Partners for an enterprise value of $130 million. Fazoli's, headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, operates nearly 220 franchised and company-owned quick-service Italian restaurants across the United States; the acquisition expands FAT Brands' portfolio of franchised restaurant concepts.

MCR has purchased the 229-room DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Minneapolis Downtown, located at 1101 LaSalle Avenue directly across from Target Corporation's global headquarters. The acquisition is MCR’s third hotel purchase in the Minneapolis metro in the past 12 months as the company continues to expand its presence in the market.

Norvestor VIII has signed an agreement to acquire a majority of the shares in CIC Hospitality AS, a Nordic provider of affordable, high-quality accommodation. The investment will support CIC’s growth and geographic expansion across the Nordics while retaining management, key employees and board members as shareholders.

Krispy Krunchy Chicken received a strategic growth investment from private equity firm Main Post Partners to support the branded convenience-store foodservice program’s next phase of growth. The investment will help scale the Krispy Krunchy brand, expand awareness and further develop its multi-location, store-in-store franchise/licensing footprint across the U.S.

REEF Technology Inc. has acquired 2ndKitchen, a virtual-kitchen and hospitality foodtech platform that enables hotels, offices and venues to offer food service without onsite kitchens. The deal will fold 2ndKitchen into REEF's Hospitality division to expand REEF's virtual-restaurant footprint and connect its portfolio of brands to more hospitality venues and customers; terms were not disclosed.

Leonard Green & Partners (LGP) acquired a majority stake in Velvet Taco from L Catterton and FB Society, with L Catterton and FB Society retaining significant minority ownership. The Dallas-based fast-casual taco chain will work with LGP to support continued national expansion (the brand had nearly 30 locations at the time of the transaction and expected to exceed 40 by end of 2022).

Funds managed by Certares Management LLC have closed a strategic growth investment in Avoya Travel, joining Jeff and Michael Anderson as co-owners. The minority investment (terms undisclosed) will support Avoya's technology and platform growth while Brad Anderson moves to an advisory role and Van Anderson retires.

TriSpan's restaurant platform Rising Stars acquired a majority stake in Shell Shack, a Texas-based experiential seafood and crab-boil restaurant concept. The investment will provide financial and operating resources to support Shell Shack's growth and national expansion plans; financial terms were not disclosed.

Restaurant Brands International Inc. agreed to acquire Firehouse Subs (Firehouse Restaurant Group Inc.) for $1.0 billion in an all-cash deal. The acquisition adds a fast-growing, franchise-driven quick-service sandwich brand with ~1,200 restaurants and is expected to be immediately accretive to RBI's earnings while enabling accelerated U.S. and international expansion and digital capability enhancements.

TPG Capital, joined by Rory McIlroy's Symphony Ventures, has agreed to make a significant strategic investment in Troon, the Scottsdale-based golf and club management company. Existing investor Leonard Green & Partners will retain a substantial stake; the capital will be used to accelerate Troon's growth and expand its market-leading services globally.

Orangewood Partners has acquired Pacific Bells, one of the largest Taco Bell franchisees in the U.S., from Partners Group. Pacific Bells’ founder and CEO Tom Cook and the management team will retain a significant minority stake and continue to operate the business as Orangewood supports further expansion across existing and new markets.

Savory Fund, the restaurant-focused vehicle managed by Mercato Partners, has invested $20 million in Scottsdale-based Hash Kitchen to form a new growth partnership. The capital will be used to unify operations and aggressively scale the brunch-centric concept across the western United States, with a target of roughly 30 new locations over the next four years; Hash Kitchen's founders will remain involved and Savory representatives will join the board.

Apple Sun, LLC (an affiliate of Sun Holdings, Inc.) acquired RMH Franchise Holdings, Inc., the second-largest Applebee's franchisee with 131 restaurants across 14 states, from ACON Investments. Financial terms were not disclosed; the deal expands Sun Holdings' footprint into the full-service casual-dining Applebee's system and increases its multi-unit restaurant portfolio.

Clairvest Group Inc., together with Clairvest Equity Partners VI and a Rubico Gaming subsidiary led by Thomas Benninger, completed the acquisition of the Delaware Park racino in Wilmington, Delaware. Clairvest invested US$71 million for a majority interest (CVG’s share US$19 million); the transaction represents a platform investment in the gaming sector and follows the sale by the Rickman family.

Pie Guys Restaurants LLC, led by Mike Kern and Chip Hurst, has acquired Rapid Fired Pizza LLC from founder Ray Wiley. Rapid Fired Pizza is a Kettering, Ohio–based fast-casual pizza franchisor with roughly 33 locations across six states; the new owners plan franchise expansion and growth into non-traditional channels. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Mubadala Capital, the Abu Dhabi-based asset management subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company, has acquired K-MAC Enterprises — the second-largest Taco Bell franchisee in the United States — from Lee Equity Partners Opportunities Fund in partnership with K-MAC's existing management team. K-MAC operates over 300 Taco Bell restaurants primarily in the Midwestern and Southern United States; Mubadala said the acquisition will support K-MAC's next phase of growth, including expanded use of technology and new concepts and formats.

BurgerFi International Inc. agreed to acquire Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza & Wings from L Catterton for approximately $161.3 million in a stock, preferred equity and debt assumption transaction. The deal expands BurgerFi's multi-brand restaurant platform, adding 61 Anthony's locations and complementary fast-casual and virtual concepts to its portfolio.

Soul Community Planet (SCP) has acquired the 41-room Laguna Riviera Beach Resort in Laguna Beach, California — its first expansion into California and sixth hotel overall. SCP plans a multi-million-dollar renovation and repositioning, rebranding the property as SCP Laguna Beach and incorporating the company's vegetarian, net-zero-waste and wellness-focused programs.

EG Group has acquired CS Food Group Holdings Limited (Cooplands), a long-established UK bakery operator with three bakeries and roughly 180 retail stores and cafes. The deal (which brings more than 1,600 employees into EG Group) is intended to accelerate EG Group's diversification into foodservice and expand Cooplands’ reach into EG’s forecourt and convenience-store network.

Kitchen United has acquired Zuul, a New York-based software and ghost kitchen developer, marking Kitchen United's first acquisition. The deal adds Zuul's ZuulOS and Zuul Market technology to Kitchen United's MIX platform to support expansion into the New York City market and strengthen its restaurant delivery and take-out capabilities.

The Travel Chapter Group has acquired FBM Holidays, a Tenby-based self-catering holiday lettings agency that manages almost 300 properties across Pembrokeshire and West Wales. The acquisition expands Travel Chapter's regional footprint and is the group's fifth purchase since investor ECI Partners backed Travel Chapter in 2019.

Beemok Capital, the family office of Benjamin Navarro, has completed its acquisition of the Charleston Place hotel in Charleston, South Carolina. The buyer (through its Beemok Hospitality Group vertical) plans significant investments and property improvements over the next 18 months; financial terms were not disclosed. The prior owner was Belmond Ltd.

Benchmark Global Hospitality and Pyramid Hotel Group completed a merger to form Benchmark Pyramid, a combined hotel and resort management company with a portfolio of about 210 properties and more than $3 billion in annual operating revenue under management. The new entity is backed by the firms' longtime investment partners, Gencom and TZP Group, and will operate offices across the United States and Europe to expand capabilities and scale in independent, lifestyle, branded and resort property management.

Silver Oak Services Partners has made an investment in Launch Entertainment (Launch Franchising, LLC) to support the family entertainment operator and franchisor’s U.S. expansion. The capital will be used to expand the corporate team, accelerate franchise and corporate park development, and pursue acquisitions of complementary entertainment concepts.

Mid-market private equity firm LDC has made an investment in BOXPARK, backing the existing management team to accelerate rollout of new sites across the UK. The deal sees Charles Dunstone exit his involvement and positions BOXPARK to expand its food-hall and leisure venues nationally over the next five years.

Cedartown Chicken, LLC, an operating subsidiary of Cedartown Foods, signed a franchisee agreement with Bojangles to acquire seven existing Bojangles restaurants in western Georgia from Robinson Holdings and to develop 11 additional restaurants in the region. Cedartown has secured an equity investment from affiliates of Acta Capital, LLC to support the acquisition and new-unit development as it grows the Bojangles footprint in Georgia and parts of Alabama.

FAT Brands Inc. agreed to acquire Twin Peaks, a sports-lodge casual dining chain, from Garnett Station Partners for $300 million. The deal, funded with proceeds from a $250 million securitized debt financing and issuance of Series B preferred stock, expands FAT Brands into the polished casual dining / sports-lodge segment and adds 82 locations (with more in development).

sweetgreen has agreed to acquire Spyce, a Boston-area restaurant and automated kitchen technology developer, to integrate Spyce's 'Infinite Kitchen' automation into its operations. The deal is intended to improve consistency, speed, and team-member experience and is expected to close in Q3 2021.

Tamarix Equity Partners and Pacific General Holdings announced a strategic growth investment in Playa Bowls LLC, the New Jersey-founded healthy fast-casual açaí and smoothie chain. The investment will support Playa Bowls' expansion and franchise growth across the United States and internationally; terms were not disclosed.

TriArtisan Capital Advisors invested $10 million in C3 (Creating Culinary Communities), the food-technology platform founded by Sam Nazarian that operates virtual/ghost kitchens and physical food halls. The investment will enable C3 to expand its digital kitchen footprint and integrate its 40+ virtual and physical brands with select TriArtisan restaurant banners to increase kitchen utilization and generate incremental revenue.

VTrips, a Ponte Vedra, Florida-based technology-enabled vacation rental manager, received a significant minority equity investment from Hudson Hill Capital to accelerate its acquisition strategy and strengthen its technology offering. The capital will be deployed to support M&A activity (VTrips expects to deploy over $250 million) and enhance the company's digital marketing and local market operations across North America.

Foodtastic Inc. has acquired Pita Pit Canada and Pita Pit International, bringing the Pita Pit quick-service restaurant brand into Foodtastic's portfolio. Pita Pit operates approximately 225 restaurants in Canada and 135 internationally; Foodtastic said it plans aggressive growth for the brand with more than 50 new locations expected over the next 36 months.

Arcis Golf has acquired six Arizona golf properties from professional golfer Phil Mickelson and partner Steve Loy, adding three private clubs and three daily-fee facilities to its portfolio. The acquisition strengthens Arcis Golf's presence in the greater Phoenix market and expands its offering of private- and public-course experiences in Arizona.

High Bluff Capital Partners, supported by investment funds managed by FS Investments, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Church's Chicken from private equity firm FFL Partners. The buyers plan to leverage High Bluff's REGO Restaurant Group platform and FS Investments' structured capital to drive domestic and international expansion of the quick-service chicken chain.

H.I.G. Capital, through an affiliate, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Quick Restaurants S.A. from Groupe Bertrand. The deal will make Quick an independent company and aims to accelerate expansion of its network of restaurants, with a stated objective of doubling the network in coming years.

TriSpan's Rising Stars restaurant fund has acquired a significant majority stake in Pho, the UK-based Vietnamese casual dining group that operates 30 restaurants and 3 cloud kitchens. The founders and management retain meaningful ownership and the business will be led by Patrick Marrinan as Managing Director with TriSpan supporting a UK and international growth plan; terms were not disclosed.

Nocturne Villa Rentals, Inc., a Gladstone Investment portfolio company, acquired St. Barth Properties, Inc. and St. Barth Dream Vacations SARL (collectively "SBP") on July 23, 2021. Gladstone Investment provided additional secured debt to support the add-on acquisition, expanding Nocturne's luxury vacation rental portfolio to include SBP's ~250 high-end properties on St. Barth.

International private equity firm Cinven has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Restaurant Brands Iberia (RB Iberia) in a transaction valued at more than €1 billion. RB Iberia — the master franchisee for Burger King in Spain and Portugal and for Popeyes and Tim Hortons in Spain — will retain its founders and Burger King Europe as minority shareholders and will continue to be led by the incumbent management team as Cinven backs growth and further restaurant expansion across Iberia.

NewSpring Franchise, a strategy of private equity firm NewSpring, completed the acquisition of Duck Donuts, a fast-growing made-to-order donut franchise headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Charlotte-based Free Fenix partnered on the deal to provide additional capital; Duck Donuts will use the proceeds to accelerate growth, expand its franchise footprint, and strengthen corporate and franchise operations.

Penn National Gaming completed the acquisition of the operations of Hollywood Casino Perryville from Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. for $31.1 million in cash and entered into a lease with GLPI for the facility real estate with annual rent of approximately $7.77 million. The deal, approved by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission, expands Penn National's regional gaming footprint and omni-channel sports betting capabilities in Maryland.

Ampex Brands, a large Yum! and 7‑Eleven franchisee based in Richardson, Texas, acquired Au Bon Pain from ABP Corporation, a subsidiary of Panera Bread. The deal (closed June 29) brings 171 Au Bon Pain locations into the Ampex portfolio, grants franchising rights to an additional 131 locations, and transitions Ampex into a franchisor role as it seeks to reopen, stabilize and expand the legacy bakery-café brand.

Roompot has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Landal GreenParks from Awaze (a Platinum Equity portfolio company). The deal transfers Landal's ~100 holiday parks across continental Europe to Roompot (a KKR-backed operator) as Awaze focuses on its managed vacation rentals business.

Harvest Hosts, a Vail, Colorado–based membership program for RV travelers, has acquired Boondockers Welcome, a peer-to-peer network that connects RVers with private hosts for free overnight stays. The acquisition combines the two networks (approximately 2,420 Harvest Hosts locations and 2,900 Boondockers Welcome locations) to create a larger, consolidated offering while both brands continue to operate independently and maintain existing membership plans.

Tamarix Equity Partners acquired a significant minority interest in Catalogue Brands, a Washington, D.C.-based restaurant holding company that owns Ted's Bulletin, Federalist Pig, Sidekick Bakery, Ensemble, and Honeymoon Chicken. Tamarix will partner with the founder and management to provide growth capital and support expansion of the group's restaurant brands.

Gladstone Investment Corporation partnered with Aureus Capital and members of executive management to form Nocturne Villa Rentals and provided equity and senior secured debt to support the new platform. Nocturne (with management) completed the acquisition of Exceptional Stays, a luxury vacation rental manager with approximately 90 properties primarily in Telluride, Colorado, as the platform's initial investment.

Portman Travel Group has acquired inspiresport, a Manchester-based sports development tour operator, from Calculus, providing an exit for Calculus investors. The acquisition expands Portman’s presence into the sports travel market and positions inspiresport for further growth within school and club sports tours.