Case Study

Stevenson & Company assists restaurant management group acquire restaurant chain.

Client
Hanon Management Group
Business category
Consumer Services – Restaurant Chain

Sale background
Our clients: Our client is a restaurant management company that wanted to acquire a Chicago-area restaurant chain to enter this market and increase their sales and profitability. It contacted Stevenson and asked us to conduct a search and approach owners of companies in which they would be interested to find out if the sellers would consider selling their companies.

The seller: Stonebridge Gyros and Café was an ethnic restaurant chain with several desirable retail locations and lease options on a number of other locations. These locations had good consumer visibility and the restaurants had a reputation of delicious food at fair prices. It was owned by a family corporation that had other business interests.

Why Stevenson & Company was retained
The buyer had known Stevenson for a number of years and had looked at other transactions to which Stevenson had introduced them. They said they knew they could trust Stevenson to represent their interests in a professional and ethical manner and were impressed with our knowledge of the acquisition process, ability to develop relationships with company owners, and skill in completing successful transactions.

The Stevenson Advantage

• Contacted owner and arranged private, confidential meetings with our client
• Held subsequent meetings with sellers and gathered financial information for our client to use in preparing an offer for the most attractive candidate
• Presented our client’s offer to the seller
• Coordinated our client’s due diligence process with the seller’s attorney and accountant
• Kept the seller informed of the sale process and what to expect as the transaction progressed

Deal summary and results
Working with our clients, Stevenson & Company successfully completed the sale, including:

• Price and terms more favorable than our client had expected
• Long-term real estate leases on the restaurant locations that were attractive to our client

Client response
After successful completion of the transaction, our clients said they were extremely pleased with the outcome and that they could not have made the acquisition without Stevenson’s assistance.