Latest news with #Dave'sHotChicken
CNBC
21 hours ago
- 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."
USA Today
a day ago
- Business
- USA Today
Dave's Hot Chicken acquired by private equity firm that owns Subway
Dave's Hot Chicken acquired by private equity firm that owns Subway Just eight years after starting in a Los Angeles parking lot, Dave's Hot Chicken has been acquired by private equity firm Roark Capital in a deal worth approximately $1 billion to enter its "next phase of growth and innovation." A spokesperson for Dave's Hot Chicken confirmed the acquisition to USA TODAY via email on Wednesday, June 4. Started by three childhood friends in a parking lot in Los Angeles in 2017, the chain primarily offers chicken tenders and chicken sandwiches and expects to end the year with over 400 locations worldwide. According to the company, it has sold the rights to more than 1,000 franchise locations in the U.S., Middle East and Canada and will open 155-plus locations this year. 'This is one of the great entrepreneurial journeys of our time, and now we begin the next chapter in the story,' said Bill Phelps, Dave's Hot Chicken's CEO, in a news release. '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.' According to reporting from CNBC, Phelps, who previously led Wetzel's Pretzels for 25 years, joined Dave's in 2019, less than two years after its founding. Phelps told the business news outlet Dave's could reach up to 4,000 locations worldwide over the next 10 years. Dave's leadership team will remain in their roles, according to the news release, continuing to drive the company's "menu innovation, food quality, in-store experience, operations, marketing, branding, digital and more." More news: Dollar Tree expects to take profit hit from tariffs, shares drop on outlook What is Roark and which companies do they own? According to the acquisition announcement, Roark is an Atlanta-based private equity firm with $40 billion in equity under management. The company has several well-known brands in the restaurant and food industries in its portfolio, including Buffalo Wild Wings, Arby's, Dunkin', Jimmy John's, and Sonic, among more. The company acquired sandwich giant Subway in 2023 for nearly $10 billion in what was one of the biggest fast food acquisitions ever. Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at Gdhauari@
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Dave's Hot Chicken acquired by private equity firm that owns Subway
Just eight years after starting in a Los Angeles parking lot, Dave's Hot Chicken has been acquired by private equity firm Roark Capital in a deal worth approximately $1 billion to enter its "next phase of growth and innovation." A spokesperson for Dave's Hot Chicken confirmed the acquisition to USA TODAY via email on Wednesday, June 4. Started by three childhood friends in a parking lot in Los Angeles in 2017, the chain primarily offers chicken tenders and chicken sandwiches and expects to end the year with over 400 locations worldwide. According to the company, it has sold the rights to more than 1,000 franchise locations in the U.S., Middle East and Canada and will open 155-plus locations this year. 'This is one of the great entrepreneurial journeys of our time, and now we begin the next chapter in the story,' said Bill Phelps, Dave's Hot Chicken's CEO, in a news release. '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.' According to reporting from CNBC, Phelps, who previously led Wetzel's Pretzels for 25 years, joined Dave's in 2019, less than two years after its founding. Phelps told the business news outlet Dave's could reach up to 4,000 locations worldwide over the next 10 years. Dave's leadership team will remain in their roles, according to the news release, continuing to drive the company's "menu innovation, food quality, in-store experience, operations, marketing, branding, digital and more." More news: Dollar Tree expects to take profit hit from tariffs, shares drop on outlook According to the acquisition announcement, Roark is an Atlanta-based private equity firm with $40 billion in equity under management. The company has several well-known brands in the restaurant and food industries in its portfolio, including Buffalo Wild Wings, Arby's, Dunkin', Jimmy John's, and Sonic, among more. The company acquired sandwich giant Subway in 2023 for nearly $10 billion in what was one of the biggest fast food acquisitions ever. Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at Gdhauari@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Subway owner acquires Dave's Hot Chicken: Here's what to know 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
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Dave's Hot Chicken acquired by private equity firm that owns Subway
Just eight years after starting in a Los Angeles parking lot, Dave's Hot Chicken has been acquired by private equity firm Roark Capital in a deal worth approximately $1 billion to enter its "next phase of growth and innovation." A spokesperson for Dave's Hot Chicken confirmed the acquisition to USA TODAY via email on Wednesday, June 4. Started by three childhood friends in a parking lot in Los Angeles in 2017, the chain primarily offers chicken tenders and chicken sandwiches and expects to end the year with over 400 locations worldwide. According to the company, it has sold the rights to more than 1,000 franchise locations in the U.S., Middle East and Canada and will open 155-plus locations this year. 'This is one of the great entrepreneurial journeys of our time, and now we begin the next chapter in the story,' said Bill Phelps, Dave's Hot Chicken's CEO, in a news release. '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.' According to reporting from CNBC, Phelps, who previously led Wetzel's Pretzels for 25 years, joined Dave's in 2019, less than two years after its founding. Phelps told the business news outlet Dave's could reach up to 4,000 locations worldwide over the next 10 years. Dave's leadership team will remain in their roles, according to the news release, continuing to drive the company's "menu innovation, food quality, in-store experience, operations, marketing, branding, digital and more." According to the acquisition announcement, Roark is an Atlanta-based private equity firm with $40 billion in equity under management. The company has several well-known brands in the restaurant and food industries in its portfolio, including Buffalo Wild Wings, Arby's, Dunkin', Jimmy John's, and Sonic, among more. The company acquired sandwich giant Subway in 2023 for nearly $10 billion in what was one of the biggest fast food acquisitions ever. Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at Gdhauari@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Subway owner acquires Dave's Hot Chicken: Here's what to know
New York Post
a day ago
- 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.
