NORFOLK, Va. – Delight Restaurant Group announced the December 2016 acquisition of 30 Wendy’s restaurants in the Virginia Beach-Norfolk metropolitan area.
As part of the deal, Delight Restaurant Group plans to build several new restaurants in Virginia and remodel certain acquired restaurants in Wendy's new Image Activation format.
The purchase was completed with a subsidiary of The Wendy's Company and is part of Wendy's previously-announced system optimization initiative. The plan is to reduce company-operated restaurant ownership to approximately five percent of the total system. In 2016, the company sold 310 restaurants to franchisees, in addition to 227 restaurants that were sold in the second half of 2015.
“Going forward, we will continue to strategically buy and sell restaurants in order to further strengthen our franchisee base, drive new restaurant development and accelerate Image Activation,” President and CEO Todd Penegor said in a statement announcing the company’s preliminary fourth quarter 2016 results. “By also facilitating franchisee-to-franchisee restaurant transfers (“buy and flips”) we ensure that we are putting restaurants in the hands of well capitalized franchisees that are committed to long-term growth. During 2016 we facilitated 144 buy and flips and expect to complete around 400 in 2017, which includes approximately 50 buy and flips that were originally scheduled to close in late 2016.”
"We are excited to join the Wendy's family,” Andrew and Richard Krumholz of Delight Restaurant Group said in a statement. “We strongly believe in Wendy's vision for Image Activation and new restaurant development. Since inception, the Wendy's brand has stood for quality. We look forward to making quality central to everything we do – from the food we serve to the organization we build."
The 30 restaurants produce approximately $50 million in gross annual revenue and have more than 1,000 employees.
