Financing

Huddle House agrees to buy Perkins for $51.5M

The purchase will create a family restaurant empire extending to 700 locations and $800 million in annual sales.
Photograph courtesy of Huddle House

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 chainsfewer than 30 stores and franchise rights to about 20 morewill be sold for $1.5 million to a newly formed company called Marie Callender's Inc. 

 

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

Consumers are leaving their cars and going into restaurants

The Bottom Line: Drive-thru traffic has steadily fallen since the pandemic, even as other off-premise channels remain strong. That traffic has shifted back to the restaurants. Did the industry overdo the drive-thru?

Financing

In the 10 largest restaurant chains, signs of the industry’s evolution

The Bottom Line: Only 14 chains have been on the list of the 10 largest concepts over the past two decades. But that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t changed with consumer demand.

Emerging Brands

Olive & Finch lets diners dictate how they want to experience the brand

This growing premium fast casual out of Denver is expanding with an all-day menu priced no higher than $20. Part of the value offering is giving guests options for how they use the concept.

Trending

More from our partners