Restaurants & Hospitality Acquisitions in New York

Wonder has acquired the Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken brand and its East Village restaurant from Blue Ribbon Restaurants, taking ownership of the concept, its physical Manhattan location and current employees. Wonder plans to keep the East Village location operating as usual while leveraging its mealtime platform to scale the chef-driven fast-casual concept to additional Wonder locations and channels over time.

Kasa has acquired Mint House in an all-equity transaction, integrating Mint House's portfolio (roughly 22 properties / nearly 1,000 residential hospitality units) into Kasa's platform to create the largest U.S. operator of apartment-style and traditional hotels. The deal follows a $40 million investment from Silver Lake Waterman backing Kasa and is intended to drive scale, cost efficiencies and improved commercial performance across distribution, revenue management and guest engagement.

Resident, a New York–based culinary and experiential hospitality platform, has acquired BLACE, a venue and vendor booking platform operating in New York City and Los Angeles. The acquisition expands Resident’s asset-light hospitality capabilities and enterprise product offering, enabling the company to offer large-format venues and launch culinary experiences in Los Angeles through BLACE’s network.

Areas has completed the acquisition of Delaware North’s Travel Hospitality Services (THS), adding 237 outlets across 22 U.S. airports and more than 4,000 team members. The deal (a divestiture of a Delaware North business unit to Areas USA) expands Areas’ U.S. footprint and scale in travel food & retail, with THS generating over $500 million in annual revenue and significantly increasing Areas USA’s locations and workforce.

Pacific General led a single-asset continuation vehicle (CV) for Naya Group LLC (NAYA), co-led by Kline Hill Partners with a meaningful reinvestment from TriSpan. The CV provides liquidity to existing TriSpan investors while supplying growth capital to scale the fast-casual Mediterranean brand nationally from its New York base (35 stores across multiple states).

Aethos, the Europe-based lifestyle hotel brand, has acquired Yayem, an experiential members' club and travel app. The deal will integrate Yayem's digital membership platform and community features into Aethos' network of hotels, clubs and curated retreats to expand member services and capabilities.

Marriott International has acquired the Postcard Cabins brand (formerly Getaway Outposts), a portfolio of 29 outposts with over 1,200 cabins, and will integrate the brand into Marriott’s planned outdoor-focused collection in 2025. Marriott also entered a long-term agreement to add Trailborn’s portfolio to its platforms; financial terms were not disclosed.

Beach Point Capital Management LP has completed an investment to acquire a majority stake in Metro Franchising, the largest Dunkin' franchisee in the New York City metro region with 105 units, from Quilvest Capital Partners. Quilvest exits after growing Metro from 44 to 105 units; Beach Point's capital will support Metro's next phase of growth under new ownership.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced it will acquire the brands and most affiliates of Standard International, the parent company of The Standard and Bunkhouse Hotels, forming a new dedicated lifestyle group headquartered in New York City. The asset-light transaction covers management, franchise and license contracts for 21 open hotels (about 2,000 rooms) and includes a $150 million base purchase price with up to $185 million of contingent consideration.

Restaurant Brands International (RBI) completed an all-cash acquisition of Carrols Restaurant Group on May 16 for approximately $1.0 billion (at $9.55 per share). RBI said it will invest an additional $500 million to reimage more than 600 restaurants and plans to refranchise most of the acquired units over the next seven years; Carrols operated 1,023 Burger King restaurants across 23 states and 59 Popeyes restaurants in six states.

Hilton has acquired a majority controlling interest in Sydell Group to add the NoMad Hotels brand to its global portfolio and accelerate expansion of the luxury lifestyle brand. Sydell will retain responsibility for design, branding and management of NoMad while Hilton will lead development and integrate NoMad into Hilton's commercial platforms, including Hilton Honors.

Elior North America has acquired Cater To You Food Service, a New York City–based provider of private school dining services. The Trentacosti family will remain in leadership as Cater To You joins Elior NA's Education segment, expanding Elior's presence in the NYC metro and adding contract catering capacity for independent schools.

Mohari Hospitality has completed the acquisition of Tao Group Hospitality, purchasing the company from Sphere Entertainment Co. and other limited partners. The deal brings Tao's global portfolio of restaurants, nightclubs and entertainment venues into Mohari's luxury hospitality platform and is supported by debt financing led by Monarch Alternative Capital.

Traub Capital Partners has made a majority investment in HITS Shows, the largest U.S. producer of hunter/jumper horse shows, to support venue improvements and strategic growth. HITS will continue operating under CEO Tom Struzzieri, who retains a significant stake while the company leverages TCP’s hospitality and consumer-focused operational expertise.

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.

Xponential Fitness has acquired Rumble, a boutique boxing fitness concept founded in New York City, adding the brand to its curated portfolio of franchised boutique fitness studios. Xponential plans to franchise Rumble rapidly and leverage its franchising expertise and investor backing (including Snapdragon Capital Partners) to expand the brand domestically and internationally.

TriSpan’s Rising Stars platform made a strategic growth investment in Maman, a French‑themed café and bakery founded in 2014 with multi‑unit locations in New York and Toronto. The capital is intended to accelerate Maman’s expansion plans and scale the brand nationally and beyond; financial terms were not disclosed.

TriSpan’s restaurant platform Rising Stars acquired a majority investment in Naya Group, a fast-casual Middle Eastern/Mediterranean restaurant chain headquartered in New York. The investment will support Naya’s growth plans to scale its footprint across New York and into additional markets; financial terms were not disclosed.

Three Hills Capital Partners (via its Three Hills Capital Solutions III fund) has invested $35 million in Sant Ambroeus Hospitality Group, the New York–based fine-dining Italian restaurant group that operates Sant Ambroeus, Casa Lever and Felice. The minority, growth-oriented capital (mix of preferred instruments and equity) will support the group's domestic footprint reinforcement and planned North American and European expansion.

Urban Tea Inc. entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire 80% of Guokui Management Inc. for $400,000 in cash. The acquisition gives Urban Tea ownership of the CROP CIRCLE trademark and operations in New York City as part of the company's U.S. expansion plans into casual food and beverage.

Fast-casual salad chain Chopt has purchased burrito chain Dos Toros Taqueria in a deal funded by private equity firm L Catterton. The two brands will sit under a new parent, Founders Table Restaurant Group (led by Chopt CEO Nick Marsh), remain separate customer-facing concepts and will roll out a shared loyalty program; financial terms were not disclosed.

London-based Rhubarb Food Design Ltd., a portfolio company of private equity firm Livingbridge, has acquired New York City-based luxury off-premise caterer Sonnier & Castle. The transaction is an add-on to Rhubarb's hospitality platform and expands its presence and catering capabilities in the U.S. market.