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Salsarita’s exploring financing alternatives

Salsarita’s Fresh Cantina, the nearly 100-unit, fast-casual Mexican restaurant chain, said Thursday it is exploring strategic alternatives, including a possible sale, to raise growth capital.

Salsarita’s, which was created in 2000 by BRV Inc. and is owned by a group of investors, led by majority holder and chairman Bruce Willette, books $10 million in corporate revenue and is looking to develop an additional 100 locations by 2014, the chain said.

Willette said in a statement that Salsarita’s has performed well despite the economic downturn, with three consecutive months of sales increases and the doubling of non-traditional locations in the past two years.

“This financial success allows the brand to now explore strategic alternatives to help expand our business operations,” he said.

In an e-mail to Nation’s Restaurant News, Willette noted that Salsarita’s would look at any option, including debt financing or a sale to a strategic buyer.

“We don't have to jump at the first offer nor are we strapped for cash,” he said. “We just have never had the resource advantages that our competitors have had ... We will look at debt, as of now we have none, taking on either a strategic or financial partner or [an] out right sale.”

The Charlotte, N.C.-based chain said its assets include a headquarters office, training store and an additional 16,000 square feet of retail and office space, 12,000 of which is leased.

In 2009, Salsarita's opened restaurants in Charlotte and Greenville, N.C,; Clarence, N.Y.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Murfreesboro and Knoxville, Tenn.; and other markets around the country. This year, non-traditional locations have opened at Auburn University and Lowe's Home Improvement's corporate offices in Mooresville, N.C. Additional non-traditional units are scheduled to open at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, Louisiana State University and Rochester Institute of Technology. Recent traditional restaurant openings include units in Tyler, Texas ,and Myrtle Beach, S.C., with plans for restaurants in Puerto Rico and Overland Park, Kan., opening by early summer, the company said.

Contact Elissa Elan at [email protected].
 

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