You may have heard that a private equity firm, 10 Point Capital of Atlanta, has invested in Slim Chickens, the franchise restaurant chain based in Fayetteville.
Well, Whispers can tell you exactly how much 10 Point Capital invested in the homegrown fast-casual restaurant company: $30 million.
Tom Gordon, Slim Chickens CEO, tells us the investment was for a minority stake and that “Slim Chickens is still and will be an Arkansas company, based here in Fayetteville.”
In announcing the investment earlier this month, Slim Chickens said the cash infusion would be used to support the chain’s expansion, with a goal of opening 600 new locations during the next 10 years. The chain currently has more than 80 locations in 14 states, the United Kingdom and Kuwait.
The announcement noted that the “leadership team at 10 Point Capital is behind the success of the top-ranked, rapidly growing fast casual restaurant concept Tropical Smoothie Cafe,” also based in Atlanta. That chain says that in the first half of 2019, it has opened 58 restaurants and signed 75 franchise agreements.
Little Rock, of course, is home to the largest Tropical Smoothie Cafe franchisee in the United States, Dyne Hospitality Group, which, according to its website, now has 59 locations in six states.
