The fast-casual BurgerFi chain has a new owner.
After being bought out of bankruptcy by lender TREW Capital Management in October, the better-burger concept on Friday was acquired by Happy Asker, CEO and co-founder of the Michigan-based parent company of Savvy Sliders, Fat Boy’s Pizza and Happy’s Pizza.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and Asker declined to offer details, saying a more formal announcement will come next week. But he confirmed that BurgerFi would become a sister brand of the growing Savvy Sliders and other franchise brands within the group.
BurgerFi and now-former sister brand Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza were owned by Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based BurgerFi International Inc., or BFI, which was a public company created through a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, in 2020.
It was a rocky few years for BFI, which saw sales plummet during that period, despite turnaround efforts. BFI defaulted on its credit agreement last year and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September.
The company also shuttered a number of underperforming units, leaving BurgerFi with 93 locations when it was acquired by TREW in a bankruptcy auction for a $10 million credit bid. Of those, 17 are company-owned and 76 are franchised.
TREW, which is led by former Famous Dave’s CEO Jeff Crivello, also made a credit bid of $44 million for the mostly company-owned Anthony’s, which was very quickly sold again earlier this month to Florida Burger Inc., whose principal is Kuljeet Singh.
Singh is also a principal of Burger King franchise group DC Burger Inc., and Round Table Pizza franchise group Circle Pizza.
Savvy Sliders was listed on this year’s Restaurant Business Future 50 list as an emerging brand, with systemwide sales of about $47 million in 2023.
UPDATE: This article has been updated to clarify Kuljeet Singh's role in the franchise companies.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.