Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Private equity |
Founded | 2001 |
Headquarters | , U.S. |
Key people |
|
Products | Leveraged buyout |
AUM | US$37 billion (2023) [1] |
Number of employees | 1.4 million [2] |
Website | roarkcapital |
Roark Capital Management, LLC, [3] also known as Roark Capital Group or simply Roark Capital, is an American private equity firm with around $37 billion in assets under management. The firm is focused on leveraged buyout investments in middle-market companies, primarily in the franchise/multi-location, restaurant and food, health and wellness, and business services sectors. It is named for Howard Roark, the protagonist in Ayn Rand's novel The Fountainhead . The firm says that its name is not meant to connote any particular political philosophy but instead signify the firm's admiration for the iconoclastic qualities of independence and self-assurance embodied by the central figure in The Fountainhead. [4]
The firm, which is based in Atlanta, Georgia, was founded in 2001 by the current Managing Partner, Neal K. Aronson. Senior team members include President Paul D. Ginsberg, Chief Investment Officer Erik O. Morris, and Managing Directors Timothy Armstrong, Stephen D. Aronson, Dennis Gies, Clay Harmon, Geoff Hill, Kevin Hofmann, Ian Picache, Gregory Smith, Sarah Spiegel, Michael Thompson, and David Wierman.
Prior to founding Roark Capital Group in 2001, Aronson was a co-founder of U.S. Franchise Systems in 1995. Roark currently is investing out of its fifth institutional private equity fund.[ needs update ]
Roark's current and former portfolio companies include:
Baskin-Robbins is an American multinational chain of ice cream and cake speciality shops owned by Inspire Brands. Baskin-Robbins was founded in 1945 by Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins in Glendale, California. Its headquarters are in Canton, Massachusetts, and shared with sibling brand Dunkin Donuts. It is the world's largest chain of ice cream specialty stores, with more than 8,000 locations.
Arby's is an American fast food sandwich restaurant chain with more than 3,300 restaurants. The flagship property of Inspire Brands, it ranked third in systemwide sales in the United States in the quick-service and fast-casual restaurant industries in 2012, behind Subway and Panera Bread. In October 2017, Food & Wine called Arby's "America's second largest sandwich chain ".
Cinnabon, Inc., is an American chain of baked goods stores and kiosks, normally found in areas with high pedestrian traffic such as malls, airports and rest stops. The company's signature item is the cinnamon roll. As of December 2017, there are more than 1,200 Cinnabon bakeries operating in 48 countries. Its headquarters are in Sandy Springs, Georgia, United States.
Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc. was an American restaurant holding company that ran three chains of fast-food restaurants: Dunkin' Donuts, Mister Donut, and Baskin-Robbins. It was headquartered in Canton, Massachusetts. It was acquired by Inspire Brands in 2020.
TOGO'S Eateries, LLC is an American chain of fast casual sandwich restaurants owned by Southfield Mezzanine Capital who purchased the company in March 2019. TOGO'S is headquartered in Campbell, California.
Carvel is an American ice cream franchise owned by Focus Brands. Carvel is best known for its soft-serve ice cream and ice cream cakes, which feature a layer of distinctive "crunchies". It also sells a variety of novelty ice cream bars and ice cream sandwiches. Its slogan is "America's Freshest Ice Cream".
Mister Donut is an international chain of doughnut stores. It was founded in the United States in 1956 by Harry Winokur. Primary offerings include doughnuts, coffee, muffins and pastries. After being acquired by Allied Domecq in 1990, most of the North American stores became Dunkin' Donuts. Outside of the United States, Mister Donut maintains a presence in Japan, El Salvador, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Singapore.
Schlotzsky's is an American franchise chain of restaurants, specializing in sandwiches and pizza. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Schlotzsky's has more than 330 franchised and company-owned locations throughout the United States. Most locations are in the south and southwestern United States, but the company is expanding into areas across the country, particularly the north and southeast.
CBC Restaurant Corporation, doing business as Corner Bakery Cafe is an American chain of cafes that specialize in pastries, breads, breakfast dishes, gourmet sandwiches, homemade soups, salads, and pasta. Corner Bakery Cafe is considered to be a part of the fast casual market segment of the food service industry, offering a somewhat higher quality of food and atmosphere than a typical fast food restaurant, and offering limited table service.
Buffalo Wild Wings is an American casual dining restaurant and sports bar franchise in the United States, Canada, India, Mexico, Panama, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and United Arab Emirates which specializes in Buffalo wings and sauces.
Sally J. Smith is president and former chief executive officer of Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc.
Il Fornaio is a chain of twenty Italian-themed fine dining restaurants operating primarily in California in the United States.
Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co. is an American private equity firm focused on growth capital investments in middle-market companies in the consumer products, specialty retail and restaurant sectors.
Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores, doing business as Love's, is an American family-owned and -operated chain of more than 630 truck stops in 42 states in the United States. The company is privately owned and headquartered in Oklahoma City. Love's ranked No. 10 on the 2022 Forbes list of America's largest private companies. Love's has two primary kinds of stores: country stores and travel stops. Country stores are fueling stations with a convenience store attached. The larger travel stops are located along highways and offer additional amenities such as food from restaurant chains such as Arby's, Bojangles, Burger King, Chester's, Dunkin', McDonald's, Taco John's, Subway, Wendy's, Hardee’s/Carls Jr., truck parking spaces, showers and laundry. The company started adding RV hookups and RV Stops in 2022. Love's had more than 40,000 employees in 2023.
Express Oil Change & Tire Engineers is an American automotive maintenance brand, with services including its signature 10 minute oil change, in addition to full-service mechanical, tires, brakes, and more general service offerings. The company is headquartered in Birmingham, AL, where it was founded in 1979.
Inspire Brands LLC is an American fast-food restaurant franchise company. Owned by Roark Capital Group, it owns the Arby's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic Drive-In, Jimmy John's, Mister Donut, Dunkin' Donuts, and Baskin-Robbins chains, which have a combined 31,700 locations and US$30 billion in system sales.
Quadrant Private Equity is an Australian private equity investment firm based in Sydney, Australia. The company was founded as Quadrant Capital in 1996 by Chris Hadley. By 2022, the Managing Partner was Jonathan Pearce.
Paul J. Brown is an American businessman and the co-founder and chief executive officer of Inspire Brands. He is the former chief executive officer of Arby’s.