The franchisor for Great American Cookies and four other restaurant brands with more than 1,400 locations has agreed to be acquired by FAT Brands, the owner of Johnny Rockets and other concepts.
The deal for Global Franchise Group is valued at $442.5 million.
The dining industry, which is rebounding from significant losses earlier in the pandemic, is bracing for the possibility of more consolidation.
GFG has about 200 employees based out of its headquarters in Sandy Springs, Georgia. Neither GFG nor FAT directly commented Monday morning on how those jobs might be affected by the deal, which is expected to close by the end of July.
GFG said in a statement about the deal, “We are energized by the opportunities this will bring and we are looking forward to becoming a member of the FAT family.”
The vast majority of the restaurants in the GFG system are operated by franchisees, with system wide sales of “close to $1 billion” annually, according to a company press release from May. GFG’s brands include Round Table Pizza, Great American Cookies, Hot Dog on a Stick, Marble Slab Creamery and Pretzelmaker.
FAT is based in the Los Angeles area. It franchised the Fatburger chain, then made a string of acquisitions, including Johnny Rockets, Hurricane Grill & Wings, Buffalo’s Cafe/Express, Elevation Burger, Ponderosa Steakhouse, Bonanza Steakhouse and Yalla Mediterranean.
With the acquisition of GFG, FAT said it would have more than 2,000 restaurants tied to its brands, with about $1.4 billion in system wide sales.
GFG is an affiliate of Lion Capital LLP and Serruya Private Equity.