Red, Hot & Blue soldRed, Hot & Blue sold

ARLINGTON, Va. Red, Hot & Blue Restaurants Inc., operator or franchisor here of 33 sit-down barbecue restaurants, has been acquired by Dancing Pigs LLC, a Windermere, Fla.-headquartered investment group formed by two industry veterans. Terms were not disclosed.

“Dancing Pigs is ready to take it to the next level,” Red, Hot & Blue chairman Wendell Moore said in a prepared statement.

Dancing Pigs is owned by John Walker, a former chief of the CNL Restaurant Properties Inc. trust, now known as Truststreet Properties inc.; and Randy McCann, a one-time senior vice president of foodservice operations for the Universal Orlando theme park. Red, Hot & Blue is apparently Dancing Pigs’ first holding.

The barbecue chain was founded in the late 1980s by several politicians and former journalist Bob Friedman. The original partners included Lee Atwater, the late manager of George Bush’s 1988 election campaign.