JAE acquires 97 Wendy’s restaurantsJAE acquires 97 Wendy’s restaurants

Existing Wendy’s franchisee JAE Restaurant Group LLC has acquired 97 more branded restaurants in South Florida from The Wendy’s Co., the Pompano Beach, Fla.-based franchisee said Wednesday, bringing its total unit count to 177.

The JAE acquisition included restaurants in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, the company said in a statement. JAE already franchises restaurants in Florida, including in Tampa and Ocala, as well as in Albuquerque, N.M., and El Paso, Texas. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

JAE plans to build five additional Wendy’s restaurants in South Florida within the next six to eight months, with a company goal of opening an average of eight to 10 new locations a year across all of its markets.

“We strive to remain leaders in the nation’s evolving quick-service restaurant industry by delivering an exceptional experience of quality, service and cleanliness to our customers through high quality food, friendly staff, high operational standards and being engaged in our communities,” said Eddie Rodriguez, JAE Restaurant Group CEO, in a statement.

JAE bought the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach locations as part of Wendy’s System Optimization Initiative, in which the company set a target of reducing its corporate ownership of restaurants to 5 percent of the 6,500-unit system.

JAE said negotiations for the acquisition began in early 2015, and concluded this past August.

JAE Restaurant Group opened its first Wendy’s restaurant in Hialeah, Fla., in 1993. The franchise company is owned by Jhonny Mercado, Andres Garcia and Rodriguez.

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