Hyde Park Ventures, a private investment management company, today announced the acquisition of 16 Five Guys franchises across New England making it the third largest Five Guys franchisee in the United States. In total, Hyde Park now owns 32 Five Guys franchises in Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, and Rhode Island with several more in development. Hyde Park operates one of the highest performing restaurant portfolios in the Five Guys system with the exclusive rights to develop 27 additional stores across New England in the coming years.
Through this acquisition, Hyde Park continues its mission to build a cutting-edge franchise platform within the Five Guys system, and eventually beyond.
Hyde Park Managing Partner Greg Vasey founded the firm while an MBA student at the University of Chicago, where he met co-founder, Jody Goehring. During his time there, he discovered fragmentation and an under valuation of assets in the franchise sector. "The economic environment from 2007-2009 was devastating to traditional investment vehicles, and even the successful growth stories were absent significant cash flow. Franchising was a low-pressure weather system into which high pressure capital simply had to flow. The only question was where and how to create an investment vehicle to capture this valuable dynamic," said Vasey. "Ultimately, we chose Five Guys given its position in the 'better burger' market, its cost-efficient development model, and its premium product offering that consumers love," he said.
For two years running, Five Guys has been voted America's favorite burger chain, according to Harris Poll's 30th annual EquiTrend study. It was also recently named in Forbes' 2018 Best Employers for Women.
Hyde Park approaches the market as a hybrid investor/operator, and sources its equity capital exclusively from high net worth investors, family offices and asset managers, all of which are attracted to the stability and cash flow profile of franchise businesses. Jody Goehring, Hyde Park Managing Partner, said: "Hyde Park provides private investors a direct opportunity to invest in a team uniquely experienced in operations, financial structuring and M&A, enabling its Limited Partners to bypass layers of private equity fees. Our existing investments validate an ability to create tangible value for investors, and we're just getting started."
Fifth Third Bank provided the debt financing for the transaction.
"Hyde Park has built a very successful portfolio quickly, and proven their ability to create a scalable model, hire the right talent, and invest in the right deals," said Greg McGinley, vice president and corporate banking principal at Fifth Third. "We saw the opportunity to back a young investment team with a clear focus, and a top team in place. We look forward to supporting the Company's continued growth."
About Hyde Park Ventures
Hyde Park Ventures is a vertically integrated private investment management company with a 10-year history of generating value-added returns in various asset classes and geographies. Hyde Park acquires, develops, invests in, and operates multi-unit blue chip restaurant franchises and real estate assets. With considerable local expertise and a critical national perspective, Hyde Park covers the full spectrum of restaurant investment, development, value enhancing asset management, operations and re-positioning. Hyde Park applies institutional analysis and disciplines to the local businesses of restaurant franchising and real estate. It seeks opportunistic and cyclical entry points in asset-based and market investment strategies to yield superior investment returns for its investors.
Hyde Park Ventures' portfolio includes Boston-based Hyde Park Burgers, the third largest Five Guys franchisee in the United States. Hyde Park also owns Hyde Park Properties, an Austin-based national real estate developer. For more information, visit www.hydeparkventures.com.
About Five Guys
Five Guys is a family owned and operated franchise restaurant group that focuses on serving high-quality burgers and fries in a clean, no frills atmosphere. Five Guys was established in 1986 in Arlington, VA. In 2003, Five Guys opened its first franchised location and with the help of loyal franchisees, Five Guys has expanded from five to 1,550 locations worldwide. Five Guys continues to be awarded "best" burger across various markets and ZAGAT Survey said "there are no better burgers." For more information, visit www.fiveguys.com.
About Fifth Third Bank
Fifth Third Bancorp is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. As of June 30, 2018, the Company had $141 billion in assets and operated 1,158 full-service Banking Centers and 2,458 ATMs with Fifth Third branding in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee, West Virginia, Georgia and North Carolina. In total, Fifth Third provides its customers with access to approximately 54,000 fee-free ATMs across the United States. Fifth Third operates four main businesses: Commercial Banking, Branch Banking, Consumer Lending and Wealth & Asset Management. Fifth Third is among the largest money managers in the Midwest and, as of June 30, 2018, had $368 billion in assets under care, of which it managed $37 billion for individuals, corporations and not-for-profit organizations through its Trust and Registered Investment Advisory businesses. Investor information and press releases can be viewed at www.53.com. Fifth Third's common stock is traded on the Nasdaq® Global Select Market under the symbol "FITB." Fifth Third Bank was established in 1858. Deposit and Credit products are offered by Fifth Third Bank. Member FDIC.
