Former TGI Fridays CEO Ray Blanchette wants to buy some of the casual-dining chain’s restaurants out of bankruptcy.
Blanchette’s Sugarloaf Concessions offered to pay $30.5 million for nine TGI Fridays locations: five high-volume outlets at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and four in Maryland. The offer also includes some assumed liabilities that will be determined before closing.
At a hearing Wednesday, a judge approved Sugarloaf as the stalking-horse bidder for the restaurants, meaning other interested buyers will have to beat its offer. If they do, the company will be reimbursed for the costs of setting the bidding floor. Competing bids are due by Dec. 20.
Blanchette was TGI Fridays’ CEO from 2018 to 2023 and previously spent 18 years with the chain’s former owner, Carlson. He already operates eight TGI Fridays in the Northeast, which he acquired earlier this year.
Fridays said it is still open to offers for other locations. At the time of its bankruptcy filing last month, the company’s assets included 39 restaurants.
Hundreds of other TGI Fridays restaurants worldwide are operated by franchisees and weren’t part of the bankruptcy filing.
TGI Fridays filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Nov. 2, capping a tumultuous year for the chain that included a failed merger with its U.K. franchisee; the termination of Fridays as the manager of its whole business securitization; and dozens of restaurant closures across the country.
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