The Japan-based Create Restaurant Group (CRG) has acquired six Minneapolis-area restaurants operated by Nova Restaurant Group.
Tokyo-based CRG also owns the U.S. concepts Il Fornaio, which it acquired in 2019, and the bakery-café chain Wildflower, purchased in 2024.
Nova Restaurant Group operated the four-unit casual-dining brand Hazelwood Food and Drink, as well as Tavern 4&5 in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, and Pier Five Hundred in Hudson, Wisconsin. The deal, which was reportedly for $23.1 million, was scheduled to close earlier this month.
Shun Maki, head of CRG’s North America M&A Division, said in a LinkedIn post that Nova founders decided to “hand over the business to CRG as our approach aligned with their vision of the sustained growth of Hazelwood.”
Maki described CRG as a “buy-and-hold acquirer,” saying the company has never sold a business it purchased.
“CRG buys great brands. We don’t intend to change the format or the people,” he wrote.
CRG is also still shopping for new brands to add to the portfolio. The company targets brands operating in a single market that do not franchise, and with revenue of at least $30 million.
Under parent Create Restaurants Holdings, the company operates multiple brands around the world, including the Shabu Sai buffet chain in Singapore; Ichigen ramen in Hong Kong/Taiwan and the Italian AWKitchen in Indonesia.
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