Ravinia Capital LLC is pleased to announce the successful sale of Rōti® Modern Mediterranean, saving 200+ jobs and keeping the brand alive by preserving the fleet of locations in three markets.
CHICAGO, Feb. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- In August 2024 Tom Goldblatt and Ravinia Capital received a call that Rōti® Modern Mediterranean was filing bankruptcy and needed an investment banker to quickly sell the company in a §363-bankruptcy sale.
Despite having a positive cash flowing restaurant portfolio, the company was los-ing money. Other than the stores and their brand, there were few tangible hard assets. The company needed a transaction prior to the end of November 2024. The protection of bankruptcy would allow the company to hold off liquidation actions by creditors and continue to operate during a sale process.
Goldblatt quickly put together a tight 30-day expedited process to run a pre-auction for a stalking horse. "We at Ravinia Capital immediately understood the severity of the situation for the employees and creditors. We jump-started a targeted outreach to qualify buyers prior to the auction. Using the resources of the Daily DAC and Ravinia's proprietary network, we advertised to more than 9,000 potential buyers," explained Goldblatt of Ravinia Capital.
The complexities of selling 19 restaurants under time pr--essure were compounded by an interested party who promised an all-cash deal and was chosen as the stalking horse. They were not able to close within the time frame.
With only three weeks until the scheduled public auction, the decision was made to proceed without a firm stalking horse. In the end, Ravinia was able to get eight companies qualified to attend the auction. At the auction, Ravina was able to secure five topping re-bids.
During the process it became clear that most of the interested buyers wanted to assume the leases but not buy the IP and name. They had plans to rebrand to their own restaurants. Goldblatt identified this trend and was able to raise the purchase price by finding an additional buyer for the IP.
This IP buyer, BroadPeak Capital, shifted strategy during the auction. They outbid all others to purchase not only the IP but also most of the leases. This outcome resulted in the restaurant chain remaining open and receiving meaningful additional capital. "With the support of our firm's deep franchise expertise and alignment with Rōti's brand values, we're confident in our ability to transform Rōti into a Mediterranean fast-casual dining leader," said Tariq Farid, Partner and CEO of BroadPeak Capital.
Broadpeak will keep the brand alive and preserve more than 200 jobs. Now Roti is poised to grow larger than ever. Customers love the brand and are relieved that the company will continue.
"The auction took surprising turns, but after it was completed Ravinia continued to work to create mini auctions for the remaining leases," noted Ken Hachikian, Managing Director of Ravinia Capital.
The sell side team consisted of Ravinia Capital as investment bank; Richman and Richman as bankruptcy counsel; MuchShelist as corporate counsel and Harney Partners as restructuring advisor. BroadPeak Capital was the buyer.
Media Contact
Shari Giddens, Ravinia Capital LLC, 1 2244227764, [email protected], www.raviniacapitalllc.com
SOURCE Ravinia Capital LLC
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