Hazem Ouf named CEO of new company
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CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries has acquired casual-dining Logan’s Roadhouse Inc. to create a 390-unit multibrand platform, the companies said Thursday.
Broomfield, Colo.-based CraftWorks, which was created with the November 2010 purchase of the Rock Bottom Restaurants Inc. and Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group Inc. by affiliates of private-equity firm Centerbridge Partners L.P., and Nashville, Tenn.-based Logan’s will be combined into CraftWorks Holdings, the companies said. Terms were not disclosed.
Logan’s current CEO, Hazem Ouf, has been named CEO and chairman of the new company.
A company spokesperson said it was premature to discuss where the new company’s headquarters would be located.
The combined company will have restaurants and breweries across 40 states.
Logan’s has 204 corporate and franchise restaurants in 22 states. CraftWorks has 189 corporate and franchise restaurants in 36 states and the District of Columbia and includes such brands as Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom, Rock Bottom Restaurants & Breweries, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants and Big River Grille & Brewing Works.
Ouf was named CEO of Logan’s in January 2017 after the company emerged from bankruptcy in late 2016, a process that led to the closure of more than 34 locations.
“I am excited to lead the new combined enterprise under the umbrella of Craftworks Holdings, and I look forward to leveraging our combined capabilities to deliver unique and memorable dining experiences," Ouf said in a statement.
“We believe that our cumulative restaurant industry experience, the company’s extensive infrastructure and the financial strength of our investors will allow us to drive excellence in service and quality within a scalable full-service dining platform,” Ouf said.
CraftWorks had fiscal 2017 restaurant revenue, which included company-restaurant sales and franchising income, of about $434.5 million, and Logan's Roadhouse generated estimated 2017 revenue of $462.4 million, according to Nation’s Restaurant News Top 200 research.
Matt Kabaker, senior managing director at Centerbridge Partners, L.P., which, through investment funds affiliated with it, controls CraftWorks Holdings said: “Hazem’s unique skill set and passion for the business make him an ideal partner for the next stage of growth and development at CraftWorks.”
Prior to Logan’s Roadhouse, Ouf spent eight years as CEO of American Blue Ribbon Holdings and its full-service O’Charley’s, 99 Restaurant and Pub, Village Inn, Bakers Square and Legendary Baking brands.
Alan J. Liddle, senior data and event editor, contributed to this report.
Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected]
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