SOLANA BEACH Calif. In a deal valued at more than $2.9 million, a subsidiary of Custom Restaurant & Hospitality Group Inc., based here, has agreed to acquire the 10-unit Millie’s Restaurant & Bakery chain from Millie’s Restaurants Inc. of Brea, Calif.
To acquire the assets of the Southern California-based Millie’s chain, CR&HGI’s American Restaurant Concepts Inc. subsidiary has agreed to provide the seller with $600,000 in cash, up to $1,000 from cash on hand and the value of inventory in each restaurant, and assume $2.3 million in debt, according to documents filed by the buyer with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. CR&HGI’s stock is traded over the counter.
CR&HGI spokeswoman Katie Overcash said her company expects the deal to close shortly, but cannot discuss the transaction in detail or plans for the assets because it is now in an SEC mandated “quiet period.”
Millie’s Restaurants Inc. is controlled by John R. Bifone, who in 2000 acquired the full-service, breakfast-lunch-and-dinner chain called Millie’s Country Kitchen from R&M Foods, which created the system in 1982 through the conversion of 16 Alphy’s restaurants previously owned by Denny’s. The Millie’s Restaurant & Bakery locations, which have beer and wine licenses, tout their foods from “Great American recipes – with a twist.”
Bifone, who in years past was president of the Country Kitchen and Bojangle’s chains, as well as chief executive of Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp., among other industry posts, also currently owns Calabee’s Inc. of Brea, the operator of 10 franchised Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar restaurants.
Joe Herrera, Millie’s vice president of marketing, said the sale, if completed, would enable Bifone to focus on his Applebee’s business and provide the Millie’s operation with greater access to capital and other resources needed for growth.
CR&HGI was previously known as PetroNational Corp., with a focus on oil-and-gas exploration and other petroleum-centered activities. In November 2008, it exited that business and created a Custom Restaurant & Hospitality Group subsidiary it subsequently merged into. In May, in a reverse merger, the then shell company acquired the Harry’s Pacific Grill casual-dining restaurants in Rancho Cucamonga and Temecula, Calif., from Westmore Investment L.P. and Westmore Partners Inc., in exchange for 57 percent of CR&HGI’s stock.
Contact Alan J. Liddle at [email protected]
