History
Jack Fulk sold the Bojangles' concept to the now defunct New York company, The Horn & Hardart Company, in 1981. Horn and Hardart had pioneered "fast food" in another era with the use of coin operated automats, the last of which was located on 42nd Street in New York City and was closed in 1991. Horn and Hardart was a publicly held company and raised large amounts of capital for expansion of the Bojangles' chain.
During the time of Horn and Hardart's ownership the chain grew rapidly and expanded to 335 restaurants including 100 restaurants in Florida. Part of this growth was fueled by acquisitions including the Florida-based Biskits chain. The conversion of the Biskits restaurants was unsuccessful and saddled the company with a large amount of new debt. Several events brought about a modicum of stability in the late 1980s even while many of the company's largest markets were closed. When Hurricane Hugo struck the Carolinas in September 1989, the company was able to open many of its restaurants while electricity remained off for more than a week in many areas. The massive amount of business sparked a turn-around in the company's sales that continued for many years. The company stabilized under the leadership of CEO John Bifone, and a settlement was reached with the franchise association which had threatened the company.
In 1990, Horn and Hardart sold most of its interest to Sienna Partners and Interwest Partners, which were managed by a group of young California venture capitalists based in Silicon Valley. The company was then headed by former KFC executive, Dick Campbell. After modest investment in facilities, training, and operations, the company began a slow and steady improvement that lasted throughout most of the 1990s. In 1994 the company attempted a public offering which collapsed before completion based upon a "softening" of the performance and over-expansion of company units and franchisee acquisitions. Dick Campbell was subsequently replaced by CEO Jim Peterson. The company once again stabilized and improved its performance, eventually selling to a group of investors headed by former Wendy's executive Joe Drury and financed by FMAC in 1998.
Bojangles' was purchased once again in 2007 by Falfurrias Capital Partners, a private equity firm. The investment group includes Hugh L. McColl Jr., founder and chairman of Falfurrias Capital Partners and former chairman and chief executive of Bank of America, and Jerry Richardson, founder and president of the NFL Carolina Panthers. Falfurrias Capital named restaurant veteran Randy Kibler CEO of the Company. In August, 2011, Falfurrias sold Bojangles' to Advent International, a global private equity firm based in Boston.
Bojangles' continues to expand rapidly and has experienced success during the United States' Great Recession, building upon same store sales increases and new units.
Read more about this topic: Bojangles' Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits
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