facebook pixal
Financing

Fatburger's parent to acquire Johnny Rockets for $25M

The deal will add 325 locations to the fold of Fat Brands.
Photograph: Shutterstock

The parent of Fatburger, Ponderosa and Bonanza has agreed to acquire the 325-unit Johnny Rockets retro malt shop concept for $25 million from the private-equity firm Sun Capital Partners.

All but nine of the Johnny Rockets restaurants are franchised. The full-service chain specializes in burgers and milk shakes served in a 1950s-style environment.

Fat Brands said it will fund the deal through a combination of cash on hand and funds available through its securitization facility.  The company said it expects the deal to close in September.

With the purchase, Fat Brands’ holdings will expand to about 700 restaurants generating sales of $700 million, the company said. Those holdings include Hurricane Grill & Wings, Buffalo’s Cafe/Express, Elevation Burger and Yalla Mediterranean.

“We couldn’t be more pleased to add another true staple in our home city to our portfolio,” said Andy Wiederhorn, CEO of Los Angeles-based Fat Brands. “This acquisition is a transformative event for Fat Brands in terms of scale and brand awareness. We see a lot of synergy with Johnny Rockets and our current restaurant concepts and we are eager to take the brand to new heights.”

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.

Multimedia

Exclusive Content

Financing

The better-burger revolution that wasn't

The Bottom Line: Remember when the fast-casual burger business was going to take loads of share from traditional fast-food chains? It never quite got there.

Financing

Here come the restaurant IPOs

The Bottom Line: Cava Group’s filing of its initial public offering documents could be the first of a few industry IPOs this year. But restaurant M&A remains weak.

Marketing

A look inside the Papa Johns test kitchen

The kitchen is the centerpiece of the pizza chain’s new Atlanta headquarters, which makes sense. Innovation has been the centerpiece of the chain’s comeback.

Trending

More from our partners