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San Francisco, June 16, 2009 – Friedman Fleischer & Lowe, LLC (“FFL”), a leading San Francisco-based private equity firm, today announced that an affiliate of the firm has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Church’s Chicken from Arcapita Bank B.S.C.(c), a global investment firm headquartered in Bahrain. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Church’s Chicken is one of the world’s largest quick-service chicken restaurant concepts, with over 1,600 outlets worldwide. Church’s serves traditional home-style fried chicken in a simple, no-frills restaurant setting, with a focus on providing complete meals at low prices for value-conscious consumers. The fried chicken concept operates under two brands worldwide: Church’s Chicken and Texas Chicken.
David L. Lowe, Vice Chairman of FFL, said: “FFL has a long history of successful consumer industry investments. The acquisition of Church’s Chicken represents an opportunity to apply our sector expertise to enhance the value of an outstanding quick service restaurant chain. We are impressed by Church’s global footprint, compelling value positioning, history of industry-leading same stores sales growth, and of course the opportunity to further expand domestically and internationally. We look forward to working with Harsha Agadi and the Company’s extraordinarily talented management team.”
Harsha V. Agadi, President and CEO of Church’s Chicken, added, “The Church’s management team is excited at the prospect of working with FFL, which has an excellent track record, and is committed to supporting the continued global growth of our brand. We are very pleased to work with a private equity firm that brings strong retail and food experience, which will result in a winning combination for both parties.” The Church’s management team will be rolling over significant equity to support their belief in the long term growth opportunity for Church’s Chicken.
Completion of the transaction is expected within 30 days, and is subject to normal closing conditions.
About Friedman Fleischer & Lowe, LLC
Friedman Fleischer & Lowe, LLC is a San Francisco-based private equity firm with approximately $2.5 billion under management that is focused on investing in U.S. middle-market companies. Formed in 1998, FFL’s strategy is to invest in companies where the substantial strategic and operating expertise of FFL's principals can help management improve margins, make acquisitions and grow earnings. FFL’s targeted sectors include consumer products, financial services, outsourced business services, education, healthcare and marketing and media. Previous investments in the consumer products industry include Tempur-Pedic International, Discovery Foods, and Milestone AV Technologies. Other significant investments include CapitalSource, Korn/Ferry International, Guardian Home Care and GeoVera Insurance Group. For more information on Friedman Fleischer & Lowe, visit www.fflpartners.com.
About Church’s
Founded in San Antonio, Texas, in 1952, Church's Chicken® is a highly recognized brand name in the QSR sector and is one of the largest quick-service chicken concepts in the world. Church's Chicken® serves freshly prepared, high quality, flavorful chicken and tenders with signature sides and hand-made from scratch biscuits at low prices. The brand differentiates from its competitors in care and attention given in preparation of food, and is positioned as the Value Leader in the Chicken QSR category. As of April 2009, the Church's system consisted of more than 1,600 locations worldwide in 22 countries, with system sales approaching $1.2 billion.
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