Franchising

Red Mango parent company group buying Friendly's

Photo via Friendly's.

November 2, 2020

Investor group Amici Partners Group LLC — a Brix Holdings entity — is buying Friendly's Restaurants parent company, FIC Restaurants Inc., as part of FIC's voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings filed Sunday in Delaware, according to a company release. The filing listed estimated liabilities of $50 million to $100 million and estimated assets of $1 million to $10 million.

Brix Holdings operates Red Mango Yogurt Café Smoothie & Juice Bar, Smoothie Factory Juice Bar, RedBrick Pizza Kitchen Cafe and Souper Salad.

Nearly all of Friendly's 130 corporate-owned and franchised restaurant locations are expected to remain open, subject to COVID-19 limitations, and the transaction is expected to preserve thousands of corporate-owned restaurant team members and franchisee jobs.

To facilitate the sale, Friendly's filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, as well as a motion seeking approval of the sale to Amici and a Chapter 11 plan that contemplates payment of all allowed claims. Friendly's has asked the court for a mid-December hearing to approve the sale and confirm the Chapter 11 plan, with the closing and plan taking effect concurrently as soon as possible thereafter. Upon the sale closing, Amici expects to retain substantially all employees at Friendly's corporate-owned restaurant locations.

"Over the last two years, Friendly's has made important strides toward reinvigorating our beloved brand in the face of shifting demographics, increased competition, and rising costs," George Michel, CEO of FIC Restaurants and former CEO of Boston Market, said in the release. "We achieved this by delivering menu innovation, re-energizing marketing, focusing on take-out, catering and third-party delivery, establishing a better overall experience for customers, and working closely with our franchisees and restaurant teams. Unfortunately, like many restaurant businesses, our progress was suddenly interrupted by the catastrophic impact of COVID-19, which caused a decline in revenue as dine-in operations ceased for months and re-opened with limited capacity.

"We believe the voluntary bankruptcy filing and planned sale to a new, deeply experienced restaurant group will enable Friendly's to rebound from the pandemic as a stronger business, with the leadership and resources needed to continue to invest in the business and serve loyal patrons, as well as compete to win new customers over the long term.

Friendly's is based in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, and was founded more than 80 years ago. Amici Partners is based in Connecticut, while Brix Holdings is based in Dallas.