FAT Brands’ years-long acquisition strategy has officially come to an end.
FBG Bid Co. announced that it completed the acquisition of substantially all assets tied to 13 FAT Brands concepts for approximately $595 million, finalizing the largest portion of the restaurant company’s bankruptcy restructuring and transferring control of more than 1,700 restaurants worldwide to a lender-backed ownership group.
The transaction includes Round Table Pizza, Fatburger, Johnny Rockets, Fazoli’s, Great American Cookies, Marble Slab Creamery, Pretzelmaker, Buffalo’s Cafe and Express, Hurricane Grill & Wings, Native Grill & Wings, and Ponderosa and Bonanza Steakhouses, as well as the Georgia manufacturing facility supporting Great American Cookies and Pretzelmaker. The sale was approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas following a court-supervised auction process.
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The closing marks the final chapter in one of the restaurant industry’s most dramatic corporate collapses.
At its peak, FAT Brands controlled more than 2,200 restaurants worldwide and positioned itself as a consolidator of franchised restaurant concepts across multiple categories, from burgers and pizza to desserts, sports bars, and polished casual dining. Between 2020 and 2023, the company spent nearly $1 billion acquiring brands as it pursued rapid expansion through securitized debt financing.
That strategy ultimately unraveled under approximately $1.5 billion in debt.
FAT Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January after months of mounting financial pressure and escalating disputes with lenders. The case quickly evolved into a contentious battle over company governance, leadership, financing, and asset ownership.
As part of a negotiated restructuring agreement, founder and CEO Andy Wiederhorn agreed to step down, several board members departed, and family members employed by the company were terminated. The settlement also included compensation payments to departing executives and directors and helped clear the way for the bankruptcy process to move forward.
The lender-backed acquisition represents the largest component of that restructuring.
The $595 million credit bid covered nearly all of FAT Brands’ remaining restaurant portfolio outside Twin Peaks and a handful of smaller concepts. During the auction process, more than 175 strategic and financial buyers were contacted, 74 parties signed confidentiality agreements, and the debtors received dozens of indications of interest. Ultimately, lenders emerged as the winning bidders for most of the assets.
Several smaller transactions also resulted from the sale process.
Amazing Brands LLC acquired Hot Dog on a Stick through an $8 million cash bid, while TABCO International Food Catering K.S.C.C. purchased Elevation Burger for $2.5 million. Court filings noted that many of Elevation Burger’s remaining locations operate in the Middle East, where TABCO already serves as a franchisee.
Twin Peaks, meanwhile, was sold through a separate $359.5 million lender-backed credit bid.
The sports lodge chain has since transitioned to ownership under Summit Twin Hospitality I, LLC, a group comprised largely of some of the brand’s most experienced franchise operators. Summit Acquisitions, which includes operators behind groups such as 3BMgmnt Inc, JEB Food Group, and Operadora 2 Montes in Mexico, has assumed oversight of operations and growth strategy as it works toward completing the acquisition.
The separation effectively removes Twin Peaks from the former FAT Brands portfolio and places the company’s highest-volume concept under private ownership.
Twin Peaks emerged as one of the strongest-performing assets within the system during FAT Brands’ ownership. The chain generated industry-leading unit economics, expanded aggressively through franchising, and became central to the company’s growth ambitions, including plans to convert dozens of Smokey Bones locations into Twin Peaks restaurants.
Smokey Bones did not survive the restructuring. The chain permanently ceased operations after failing to attract a qualified buyer, with remaining restaurants either closing or converting to Twin Peaks units.
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