The San Francisco-based private-equity firm has more than $15 billion in investments in a wide variety of sectors,from software to financial services. But it has been a sizable player in the restaurant space in recent years.
The firm owns California Pizza Kitchen and purchased Red Lobster from Darden Restaurants in 2014, funding the acquisition with a sale-leaseback of the chain’s restaurants. Two years later, it would take a minority investment from the Bangkok seafood supplier Thai Union Group. Last spring, Golden Gate acquired the 500-unit family dining chain Bob Evans for $565 million.
Golden Gate's restaurant holdings totaled $3.9B in U.S. sales in 2017, according to Technomic’s Digital Resource Library.