Huddle House has agreed to buy the rights to Perkins Restaurant & Bakery with the intention of operating the family chains as distinct but sister family restaurant brands.
Bankruptcy court documents reveal that Huddle House has agreed to pay $51.5 million for Perkins.
Perkins has been operating under court supervision since its parent, Perkins & Marie Callender’s, filed for Chapter 11 protection in early August.
The combination of the brands will result in a 700-restaurant operation with collective sales of about $800 million, Huddle House said in announcing the deal. About 220 of Perkins' units and roughly 315 of Huddle House's 351 units are franchised.
Perkins will be run by Huddle House’s leadership team out of the buyer’s Atlanta headquarters, the announcement indicated. It specified that Huddle House has no plans to turn any Perkins units into Huddle Houses, nor vice versa, and indicated that both brands would be expanded.
“Strategically, this is a very good fit,” said Huddle House CEO Michael Abt. “The current leadership team at Perkins has done a tremendous job revitalizing the Perkins concept over the past year, and we believe that we can further utilize Huddle House’s existing platforms and financial backing to strengthen the growth of the Perkins brand.”
He added, “This acquisition is by careful design and calculation, as the brands fit well together serving complementary markets but supported by similar resources.”
Court documents show that Perkins's much smaller sister brand, Marie Callender's, will be broken up for sale. The baked-goods company that owns David's Cookies has agreed to buy Callender's bakery operations for $18.5 million, and what remains of the Callender's restaurant chains—fewer than 30 stores and franchise rights to about 20 more—will be sold for $1.5 million to a newly formed company called Marie Callender's Inc.