MOD Pizza has acquired 13 North Carolina units of the fast-casual pizza chain previously owned by SD Holdings, a multi-brand franchisee that declared bankruptcy earlier this year, the Seattle-based company announced Tuesday.
North Carolina-based SD Holdings, which operated 73 Sonic Drive-In locations as well as three Fuzzy’s Taco Shop restaurants, filed for bankruptcy protection in February with $22.3 million in secured debt.
MOD Pizza did not disclose terms of its deal, nor had it responded to a Restaurant Business query about whether any of its other franchisees were struggling currently.
“The investment not only protects jobs across North Carolina, but is an incredibly exciting opportunity for us to expand our company-owned portfolio and reinforce our commitment to a well-performing market with plenty of growth potential,” Scott Svenson, MOD Pizza co-founder and CEO, said in a statement.
The newly acquired units are spread throughout the state in Charlotte, Wake Forest, Raleigh, Fayetteville and Asheville, the company said.
Following SD Holdings' bankruptcy filing, Sonic Corp. said it planned to acquire the units from its franchisee.
MOD, which was founded in 2008, has 406 company-owned stores and 82 franchise locations following the deal.
The pizza chain’s system sales grew nearly 24% last year, according to data from Technomic, an RB sister company.
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