Latest news with #RoarkCapital
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Cult-Favorite Fried Chicken Chain Acquired by Company That Owns Arby's, Subway
Cult-Favorite Fried Chicken Chain Acquired by Company That Owns Arby's, Subway originally appeared on Parade. Dave's Hot Chicken has officially been acquired by private equity firm Roark Capital for one very pretty penny. The deal comes about four months after rumors of the sale first began circulating and eight years after the popular restaurant first began serving up Nashville-style chicken as a pop-up in a Los Angeles, Calif. parking lot, as first reported by The Associated Press. Now, it hosts guests at 400 restaurants scattered across the globe and in major cities like Dubai, New York and Toronto. Roark Capital—which owns Inspire Brands (the parent company of Arby's, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin', Jimmy Johns, and Sonic) as well as Auntie Anne's, Carvel, Cinnabon, Jamba, Moe's, Subway, among many other recognizable names—acquired the cult-favorite chain in a deal valued at $1 billion. Related:Pepsi Officially Acquires Cult-Favorite Soda Brand Before it was absorbed by the private equity firm specializing in franchised businesses, Dave's Hot Chicken was eyed by other celebrity investors, including rapper , who celebrates his Oct. 24 birthday with a hot chicken slider giveaway. The fried chicken joint's original leadership team isn't expected to shake up too much, as AP reported CEO Bill Phelps and the four childhood friends who founded the company will "continue to lead menu innovation, food quality, operations and marketing." "Our entire organization is excited about the fit between Dave's Hot Chicken and Roark," Phelps said in a statement shared with the outlet, adding that the brand is "looking forward to continuing to blow our guests' minds and unlocking growth and value for our franchise partners." In other related news, the fast-growing fast food chain has had much to celebrate in the first half of 2025, as it also opened several new restaurants in the U.S. and around the world in recent weeks, including locations in Bakersfield, Calif., Omaha, Neb., Sandy Springs, Ga., Springfield, Ore. and Pickering, Ont. Next: Cult-Favorite Fried Chicken Chain Acquired by Company That Owns Arby's, Subway first appeared on Parade on Jun 3, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 3, 2025, where it first appeared. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How much did Drake make on the Dave's Hot Chicken deal?
Like Toronto rapper Drake, the founders of Dave's Hot Chicken started from the bottom. This month, they may have all cashed in together. On June 2, the high flying chicken chain, which counts the music superstar as an investor, sold a 70 per cent majority interest to private equity firm Roark Capital in a deal that reportedly valued Dave's at US$1 billion (the deal's exact terms weren't disclosed). Atlanta-based Roark is known for its portfolio of major restaurant brands including Subway, Arby's, Dunkin' Donuts, Baskin Robbins and Buffalo Wild Wings, among others. The sale capped a dramatic rise in the fortunes of childhood friends Arman Oganesyan, Dave Kopushyan, Tommy Rubenyan and Gary Rubenyan, who pooled US$900 together in 2017 to start a pop-up selling Nashville-style chicken out of a parking lot in Los Angeles. After six months of hour-long lineups thanks to word of mouth and social media buzz, the company started slinging its tenders, sliders, fries and kale slaw out of its first bricks-and-mortar store in an East Hollywood strip mall. Eight years later, franchising has helped Dave's Hot Chicken grow exponentially into 315 store locations in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the Middle East. Along the way, the chicken chain has benefited from a cult following and a troop of celebrity investors including Drake, who bought his minority stake in 2021. There's no doubt Drake's hype and social media buzz — the rapper has 142 million Instagram followers — has played a part in Dave's Hot Chicken's meteoric ascent. For the last three years, the superstar has celebrated his birthday on Oct. 24 by sponsoring a free chicken giveaway at Dave's Hot Chicken locations in Toronto. The latest valuation also marks a big jump from Dave's Hot Chicken's first deal in 2019, when the four co-founders sold a 50 per cent stake in the business for $2 million to a group of investors led by Bill Phelps, who became the company's chief executive, and movie producer John Davis. The investor group included such celebrities as actor Samuel L. Jackson, journalist Maria Shriver, television host and former NFL player Michael Strahan and Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner. The four co-founders reportedly split the remaining 50 per cent stake. At the time of the Roark Capital deal, Forbes reported that Phelps and Davis were the company's largest shareholders with 'roughly equal stakes' (though both declined to reveal exactly how much they owned). Each of the four co-founders owned around 10 per cent of the business and sold 80 per cent of their stakes, netting a cool US$80 million each (before taxes), according to Forbes. So, how much did Champagne Papi make off of the deal? Bloomberg reported that Drake was among the company's biggest investors when he bought his minority stake in 2021, but his exact ownership percentage and how much he paid for it has never been disclosed. If the founders owned a combined 40 per cent (10 per cent each) before the deal and Phelps and Davis were the biggest shareholders with roughly equal stakes, Drake would have to own less than 20 per cent of the chicken chain, with the likely total being much lower than that. With each percentage point worth a cool US$10 million, even a five per cent stake would be worth US$50 million. The Financial Post reached out to Dave's Hot Chicken for comment about whether Drake sold any of his shares as part of the deal, but did not receive a response. Dave's is not Drake's first foray into the food world, but it appears to be his most successful restaurant investment to date. The rapper has opened two Toronto eateries in the last decade: Frings, a venture with chef Susur Lee and his sons that opened in 2015 and closed three years later, and Pick 6ix, a sports bar that opened in early 2018 and closed by the end of 2019. 'I tried the food and it was amazing': Drake buys stake in Dave's Hot Chicken chain Tim Hortons partners with actor Ryan Reynolds on breakfast boxes The rapper has also reportedly invested in green tea retailer MatchaBar and plant-based chicken company Daring Foods Inc. (the same year he bought his stake in Dave's) and collaborated with U.S. entrepreneur Brent Hocking to launch his own whiskey brand (Virginia Black) and champagne (Mod Sélection). • Email: jswitzer@ Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Forbes
09-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Forbes Daily: Immigration Protests Spark California Enforcement Face-Off
Dave's Hot Chicken is known for bringing the heat—and an unlikely group is reaping the rewards from the restaurant chain's success. The fried chicken company said last week it sold 70% of its business to private equity giant Roark Capital—which also owns brands like Subway, Dunkin' and Buffalo Wild Wings—at a $1 billion overall valuation. Its four cofounders struggled to pull together $900 to launch the first Dave's popup, but they'll now each pocket around $80 million pre-tax. Timing was key for Dave's. Chicken overtook beef as the most popular meat in the U.S. in 2010, and the trend is boosting other chains like Raising Cane's and Wingstop. Still, the company says it isn't worried about competitors. 'I went into a Popeye's and had their spicy chicken sandwich and said, 'We're going to be rich,'' says CEO Bill Phelps. Demonstrators protest outside a downtown jail in Los Angeles following two days of clashes with police during a series of immigration raids on June 8, 2025. Protests against President Donald Trump's immigration raids broke out Friday and continued through Sunday in Los Angeles, leading Trump to deploy National Guard troops—a move criticized as 'inflaming tensions' by California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. At least 60 people were arrested in San Francisco by early Monday after protesters gathering in solidarity with Los Angeles clashed with police. Despite questions around economic uncertainty in the wake of Trump's tariffs, the U.S. job market was relatively strong in May, according to a monthly report from the Labor Department. The positive data came after an earlier report last week showed the weakest monthly private sector job growth in more than two years, and stocks ended the day on a high note. Analysts worry Elon Musk's dust-up with President Donald Trump could further weigh on the already-beleagured Tesla, and on Thursday, a group of Goldman Sachs analysts cut their prediction for the company's sales. The analysts slashed their forecast for second-quarter Tesla vehicle deliveries to 365,000, which would be an 18% decline from the same period last year—the weakest quarterly delivery growth since at least 2015. The fight cost Elon Musk, with his fortune falling by $27 billion Thursday, but he's still come out ahead from his relationship with President Donald Trump. The world's richest man is still $145 billion richer than he was before endorsing Trump last July, worth $394 billion as of late Friday. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from the Kennedy Space Center, carrying the Intuitive Machines Moon Lander Athena as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. The biggest casualty of the feud could be NASA: Last week, Trump considered canceling Musk's government contracts, and Musk responded that SpaceX would decommission its Dragon spacecraft, though he later reversed course. NASA relies heavily on SpaceX for its operations—the company's rockets launched more than half of NASA's space missions last year—and while the agency has other partners in aerospace, many are years behind SpaceX in terms of development. MORE: While SpaceX has made itself indispensable to the government, some types of contracts could still be vulnerable for cancellation if Trump follows through on his threat. And the administration could make a greater impact by steering new business to others and reorienting its plans. The Maryland man whom the Trump Administration mistakenly deported to El Salvador was returned to U.S. custody, despite the White House previously insisting it could not bring him back. The administration indicted Kilmar Abrego Garcia on charges of transporting undocumented immigrants after repeatedly claiming without evidence that he belonged to gang MS-13, which he and his family have denied him having any association with. Temi Fagbenle and the Golden State Valkyries have attracted 10,000 season-ticket buyers—around the same number the Warriors have in the same arena. The WNBA's Golden State Valkyries are near the bottom of the Western Conference standings in their inaugural season as they start from scratch, but the Bay Area team has already guaranteed itself success on its balance sheet. Forbes estimates the team has locked in at least $20 million in sponsorship revenue this season and is projected to earn another $35 million from its 10,000 season-ticket holders and various premium ticket packages—figures that dwarf what any other WNBA team can generate. Venture capital veteran Theresia Gouw Venture capitalist Theresia Gouw is a woman of many firsts. Born in Indonesia to parents of Chinese descent, Gouw immigrated to the U.S. when she was 3 years old. She later became the first person in her high school to attend Brown University, the first female partner at venture capital powerhouse Accel and cofounder of one of the first female-led VC firms in Silicon Valley. 'The American dream is so central to my personal story,' she told Forbes in 2023. She now has another 'first' to add to her list. Gouw is America's first woman billionaire venture capitalist, worth an estimated $1.2 billion. Much of her fortune stems from her 15-year tenure at Accel, where she was part of the team that led that firm's lucrative early bet on Facebook (now called Meta). She now runs Acrew Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm that she cofounded in 2019. Acrew raised $700 million in October to invest in data and security, health and fintech startups, bringing the firm's assets under management to $1.7 billion—with an emphasis on diversity, especially through its Diversify Capital Fund. Women made up just 17% of VC decision makers in 2024, per a PitchBook report. Things likely won't move toward parity anytime soon. On President Donald Trump's first day in office, he issued an executive order mandating the termination of all federal DEI programs that have supported women, people of color, individuals with disabilities and others. In addition, some of the world's biggest companies with powerful corporate venture capital arms, including Google, Meta and Goldman Sachs, have rolled back DEI initiatives. WHY IT MATTERS How Gouw will respond to the new political environment isn't clear, but for many years she has been a strong advocate for DEI, doubling down on the practice in several ways: starting Acrew, with a founding investment team that's 83% women or people of color; spearheading an initiative to bring historically Black colleges and universities into the VC world; cofounding DEI-focused fund of funds First Close Partners (now with $30 million in assets); and cofounding All Raise, a nonprofit that helps female founders and investors in Silicon Valley network and find mentors. MORE America's Richest Self-Made Women President Donald Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' that passed the House could cause millions to lose coverage through changes to the Affordable Care Act, according to the Congressional Budget Office. It also institutes work requirements for SNAP and Medicaid that would take effect in 2026: Approximately 7.8 million: The estimated number of people who could lose Medicaid coverage $715 billion: How much the bill aims to slash in Medicaid, along with $300 billion in SNAP, also known as food stamps 71%: The share of working-age adults on Medicaid who were working full or part time or in school, while an additional 12% were caregivers, according to a 2023 report There's no perfect time to start a side hustle, but simply getting off the ground with skills you already have can put you on the path to success all the more quickly. Here are some side hustles to consider: service-based, like pet sitting or a cleaning business; creative-based, such as selling artwork online; or a fully digital business, like social media marketing and freelancing. Bettors are placing wagers on the relationship breakdown between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. What were the odds on Polymarket that the two would publicly reconcile by July? A. About 10% B. About 30% C. About 50% D. About 70% Check your answer. Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Sarah Whitmire and Chris Dobstaff.
CNBC
04-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
3 friends launched chicken finger stand in LA parking lot with $900—it just sold in deal worth ‘close' to $1 billion
Apparently, convincing your friends to sell chicken can pay off — big. At 24, Arman Oganesyan was making $50 a night as a stand-up comedian with no restaurant or business experience when he pitched the idea of selling Nashville hot chicken to his childhood friends Dave Kopushyan and Tommy Rubenyan. Pooling $900 in savings, they launched Dave's Hot Chicken in 2017 as a pop-up in a Los Angeles parking lot. On Monday, private equity firm Roark Capital bought a majority stake in Dave's Hot Chicken, which is now a franchise business with more than 300 locations, in a deal worth "pretty close" to $1 billion, Dave's CEO Bill Phelps said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." "It's insane what we did," Phelps said. "The vision of these guys was just great. Arman Oganesyan was the founder. A high school dropout, but a marketing genius, and he created all of this in his head." But the idea nearly didn't happen. Kopushyan — a chef who had worked at Michelin-starred restaurants — initially told Oganesyan, "'Chicken? First of all, I don't even like chicken,'" Oganesyan said on the "How I Built This Podcast with Guy Raz" in 2024. It took some convincing, but with Kopushyan eventually on board, they went to their other friends looking for investors, Oganesyan said — everyone turned them down, except Tommy Rubenyan. Oganesyan said the trio scraped their savings together and got to work developing a Nashville hot chicken recipe, drawing inspiration from popular Los Angeles restaurant Howlin' Ray's, which has two locations. The friends spent months eating at various fried chicken joints, watching documentaries on chicken and experimenting in Kopushyan's kitchen, Oganesyan said. Some of their "crazier" ideas, like using gummy bears in the recipe, were struck down; others came unexpectedly, Oganesyan said, like using pickle juice in the brine, which they discovered by accident after tossing leftover chicken into a nearly-empty pickle jar. "It was a lot of belief with a lot of doubt," Oganesyan said. Eventually, they were ready to start selling their fried chicken tenders, but couldn't afford to buy a food truck, so they set up in a parking lot in LA's East Hollywood neighborhood with a $150 fryer, a heat lamp for fries and tables they borrowed from their parents, Oganesyan said. They made $40 the first night they opened from four meals they sold to Oganesyan's girlfriend and three of her friends, he said. But five days into opening, they caught the attention of former Eater Los Angeles food critic Farley Elliott through word of mouth. From there business boomed, and Oganesyan said they began selling out and making "a few thousand" dollars every night in a matter of months. At the end of their second month, they paid themselves for the first time, each taking home around $10,000 in cash, Oganesyan said. "It was the most money I'd ever seen in my life," he added. A year later, they brought in Rubenyan's brother, Gary, who helped them open their first storefront. In 2019, an investor group, which included Dave's current CEO Bill Phelps, actor Samuel L. Jackson, Good Morning America anchor and former NFL player Michael Strahan, movie producer John Davis and Red Sox owner Tom Werner, bought a stake in the company with plans to franchise the brand, the company told Nation's Restaurant News in 2019. Phelps, who has served as CEO since then, has expanded the chain's presence nationally and internationally, adding locations in Canada, the United Kingdom and the Middle East, he said on "Squawk Box." In the U.S., Dave's brought in more than $600 million in systemwide sales last year, up 57% from the year before, according to data from market research firm Technomic. This year, the company expects to bring in $1.2 billion in sales and is currently "extremely" profitable both at the franchise level and in its corporate operations, Jim Bitticks, president and COO of Dave's, told CNBC Make It. While the financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, Oganesyan, Kopushyan, the Rubenyan brothers and Phelps will retain minority stakes in the company and continue in their current roles, CNBC reported on Monday. "The timing was absolutely right," Phelps told CNBC. "We were at an inflection point where we could get an incredible valuation, and yet there was still significant upside for Roark, so that's the perfect place to be."
New York Post
04-06-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Dave's Hot Chicken sold to Subway owner in $1 billion deal
Dave's Hot Chicken said Monday it has been acquired by the private equity firm Roark Capital in a deal valued at $1 billion. Dave's Hot Chicken got its start in 2017 as a popup in a Los Angeles parking lot. It has grown exponentially since then and expects to end this year with 400 restaurants worldwide. The brand specializes in Nashville-style hot chicken. 3 Dave's Hot Chicken was bought by private equity firm Roark Capital for $1 billion. AP 3 Dave's Hot Chicken was started in 2017 as a popup in a Los Angeles parking lot. AP Investors in Dave's Hot Chicken have included the rapper Drake, who gives away hot chicken sliders every year on Oct. 24, his birthday. Atlanta-based Roark specializes in franchised businesses. It bought the Subway sandwich chain in 2023 and backs two holding companies that own multiple restaurant chains: Inspire Brands, the parent of Arby's, Dunkin', Jimmy John's, Sonic and Buffalo Wild Wings; and GoTo Foods, which owns Auntie Anne's, Carvel, Cinnabon and Jamba. Dave's Hot Chicken said its leadership team — including CEO Bill Phelps and the four childhood friends who founded the company — will remain and continue to lead menu innovation, food quality, operations and marketing. 3 Atlanta-based Roark bought the Subway sandwich chain in 2023. Christopher Sadowski 'Our entire organization is excited about the fit between Dave's Hot Chicken and Roark, and we're looking forward to continuing to blow our guests' minds and unlocking growth and value for our franchise partners,' Phelps said in a statement.
