Thompson Street Capital Partners has acquired Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, the 360-unit fast-casual concept, the St. Louis, Mo.-based private equity firm said Wednesday.
Terms of the deal with the Wichita, Kan.-based Freddy’s were not disclosed.
Freddy’s was founded in 2002 in Wichita and features a menu of steakburgers, shoestring fries and frozen custard. The company began franchising in 2004 and now has more than 360 locations, about 30 of them company-owned.
"Freddy’s is a highly unique, scaled franchisor platform that has built a premium brand over the past two decades with leading franchisee retention, remarkable growth and a passionate guest following of ‘FredHeads,’” said Bob Dunn, managing partner of Thompson Street Capital, in a statement.
Randy Simon, Freddy’s co-founder and CEO, said, “There remains a large segment of the country where we are not present and by partnering with TSCP we will be better able to expand in those areas and continue our strong growth going forward.”
Scott Redler, Freddy’s co-founder and chief operating officer, said the company would continue to invest in a corporate support system to ensure operators get the resources they need. “Our partnership with TSCP will elevate those capabilities and enable us to take our franchisee support to another level,” Redler said.
Thompson Street Capital invests in healthcare services, software and technology and business services. Its portfolio includes such companies as Green Mountain Technology LLC, Len the Plumber, StayLock Storage and others.
Joe St. Geme, a director at Thompson Street Capital said the Freddy’s acquisition allowed the company to partner with the concept founders and management “to grow a premier system by accelerating franchise development, increasing focus on marketing and technology deployment and enabling operational best practices across the footprint.”
Freddy’s in November signed a franchise agreement with St. Louis, Mo.-based RSolution, a shopping-center developer for 50 restaurants in the Southeast.
Freddy’s has units in 32 states.
Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected]
