Equity fund buys majority stake in Jimmy John’s
CHICAGO – Jimmy John’s Sandwiches said Thursday it sold a majority stake to an affiliate of Atlanta-based private equity group Roark Capital Group. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
No changes to management are planned and founder Jimmy John Liautaud, who serves as chairman of the board, will “continue to help shape the company’s high-level strategic direction,” according to a news release.
President and CEO James North will continue to head day-to-day operations of the Illinois-based sandwich chain. Investment group Weston Presidio, which has held a minority stake in the business for 10 years, will exit.
Roark focuses on franchised and multiunit business models in the retail, restaurant, consumer and business services sectors. It also is an investor in Anytime Fitness, Arby’s, Atkins Nutritionals, Corner Bakery and CKE Restaurants, the owner of Carl’s Jr. and Hardees. In 2014, founder and managing director Neal Aronson was ranked fourth on Nation’s Restaurant News’ list of the 50 most influential people in the U.S. restaurant industry.
In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Liautaud said that he and Aronson got to know each other over a couple of years and came to an agreement. “I’m still the single individual largest (noninstitutional) shareholder,” he said, adding that Jimmy John’s was ready for a “nonentrepreneur” to step in. “I’m a good operator, good with food and good with math,” said Liautaud. “I’m not a strategist and the company deserved that.”
Last year, Liautaud announced plans to take the company public and then canceled them after months of consideration.
In June, the Illinois attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against Jimmy John’s, alleging the company imposes “highly restrictive non-compete agreements on its employees.” The suit is pending.
Liautaud in 1983 opened the first Jimmy John’s in Charleston, in east-central Illinois, after high school, with $25,000 from his father. He enrolled at Eastern Illinois University, only to drop out before finishing the first semester to grow his business.
Jimmy John’s has more than 2,5000 locations in 43 states and $2 billion in systemwide sales, according to a company statement.