EXCLUSIVE-California Pizza Kitchen reaches buyout deal, names new leadership

Consortium Brand Partners makes first restaurant investment Jon Weber will be CEO of CPK restaurant division New owners plan US and international expansion via franchise partners By Abigail Summerville Dec 16 (Reuters) - An investor group led by Consortium Brand Partners is buying California Pizza Kitchen and has tapped the CEO of Convive Brands to run its restaurants, the company told Reuters on Tuesday, five years after the chain’s pandemic-driven bankruptcy. Jon Weber, chief executive officer of Convive Brands, which is part of the investor group, will also become the CEO of California Pizza Kitchen’s (CPK) restaurant division. Michael Beacham, the current president of CPK, will lead the company’s consumer packaged goods division, the company said in a statement reviewed by Reuters ahead of the announcement. The news confirms Reuters’ previous reporting that a deal had been reached to sell the iconic pizza chain after successfully bouncing back from its 2020 Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Billionaire Todd Boehly’s investment firm Eldridge Industries, the credit arm of private equity firm Bain Capital, and Aurify Brands are part of the investor group. The transaction, the terms of which were not disclosed, is set to close later this month. The restaurant, which was founded 40 years ago in Beverly Hills and has over 120 locations globally, generates annual revenue of close to $1 billion. Reuters reported last month that CPK was nearing a deal with the investor group for under $300 million. The investment represents an opening foray into the restaurant category for Consortium Brand Partners, which owns activewear brand Outdoor Voices, home decor company Jonathan Adler, and lifestyle brand Draper James, which was founded by actress Reese Witherspoon. Lenders owned the restaurant chain following a July 2020 bankruptcy triggered by a pandemic slowdown and a heavy debt load from its previous private equity owner. Eldridge Industries is a well-known investor across a variety of sectors, and its restaurant investment business Convive Brands owns Le Pain Quotidien and The Little Beet. Aurify Brands, a New York City–based hospitality platform, owns Melt Shop and Fields Good Chicken and is a franchise partner to Five Guys and Wingstop. Bain Capital Credit is also participating in the deal, providing debt and equity financing. The new owners plan to open more CPK restaurants in the U.S. and internationally using franchisee partners, sell more CPK-branded products to grocery stores as part of its consumer packaged goods program, and continue to innovate the restaurant menus. “CPK has extreme brand loyalty for something that’s been around for so long … and there’s an incredible amount of opportunity left,” Cory Baker, founder of Consortium Brand Partners, said in an interview. The chain has a fast-growing consumer packaged goods business: CPK has a partnership with Nestle (NESN.S) to sell its frozen pizzas and with manufacturer Litehouse to sell its salad dressings in over 10,000 grocery retailers globally. Elsewhere in pizza deals, investment firms have been circling Papa John’s (PZZA.O) . Yum Brands (YUM.N) is exploring a sale of Pizza Hut, and MTY Food Group (MTY.TO) , the parent company of dozens of restaurant concepts including pizza chain Papa Murphy’s, is exploring a sale.