[ad_1]
CHAMPAIGN – Arby's parent company, Buffalo Wild Wings and Sonic Drive-In, has agreed to buy Jimmy John's, the Champaign-based sandwich chain founded in 1983 by Jimmy John Liautaud.
Inspire Brands made the announcement Wednesday morning and said that the deal had been unanimously approved by the board of directors of Jimmy John, including Liautaud.
The seat will remain in Champaign "for the moment," said Inspire spokesman Chris Fuller.
"Jimmy John's will continue to operate in Champaign, IL for the time being," he said in an email. "We are committed to communicating as openly and quickly as possible as decisions are made."
The transaction should be finalized by the end of October. The sale price has not been disclosed.
"Jimmy John's found the perfect home at Inspire," Liautaud said in a statement. "Inspire's long-term approach, its culture of innovation and commitment to brand growth sets it apart from others. I could not be more proud of the company we built and I can not wait to see what Jimmy John's is able to accomplish under Inspire's leadership. "
Liautaud founded Jimmy John's in Charleston, opening his third store in Champaign. It now has more than 2,800 sites in 43 states.
In 2016, Jimmy John's sold a majority stake in his business to Atlanta-based private equity firm Roark Capital Group.
In this transaction, Liautaud remained the largest individual shareholder and became chairman of the board. As part of this deal, he will step down as president and become a brand advisor, Inspire said.
Jimmy John's CEO James North will remain in charge of the channel. He will become president of the brand and report to the CEO of Inspire.
Inspire, owned by Roark, was founded last year when Buffalo Wild Wings was bought by Arby.
He has since added the brand Sonic Drive-In.
With the purchase of Jimmy John's, one of the fastest growing restaurants in the country, Inspire said it would be the fourth largest restaurant business in the country, with annual sales of more than $ 14 billion from more than 11,200 restaurants in 16 countries. and 1,400 franchisees.
Jimmy John's sales increased $ 780 million from 1,130 stores in 2010 to $ 2.1 billion, compared with 2,803 stores last year, Inspire said.
And the company's publication indicates that much more needs to be done for it to develop, both in the United States and internationally.
After opening his first store in January 1983 at Eastern Illinois University, Liautaud said Jimmy John's made a profit of $ 40,000 on a turnover of $ 155,000, according to the company's website.
In 1994, he owned 10 stores and sold his first franchise.
In 2002, Jimmy John's had 160 stores, but with 70 of them bankrupt, he and North went to each of them and closed seven.
Since then, Jimmy John's has grown rapidly. He opened his 500th store in 2007, the No. 1000 in 2010 and the No. 2000 in 2014, according to his website.
Around the same time, the company was planning to go public but finally decided not to do so in 2015, according to Bloomberg.
Jimmy John's has also recently expanded its Champaign headquarters, which, according to Liautaud, told News-Gazette Media that in 2017, it employs about 100 people.
In 2011, Liautaud threatened to move Champaign's head office out of the state after Illinois increased its corporate tax rate from 3 percent to 5 percent.
He eventually retained the headquarters of Fox Drive in Champaign, but transferred the licensing company of Jimmy John to Florida, where he has a home.
Over the years, Liautaud and his wife, Leslie, have made several donations to local non-profit organizations, including a million dollars for the construction of the new Stephens Family YMCA and Larkin's Place play space and more $ 100,000 for organizations such as Frances Nelson, Kickapoo Rail Trail and Crisis Nursery, among others.
He also donated $ 5 million to the University of Illinois at Chicago to create the Liautaud Graduate School for Business.
And in the 2012 election cycle, Liautaud paid $ 609,550 to federal candidates, national party committees and political action committees, most in favor of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
The success of his company and of him did not come without controversy.
Jimmy John's has faced a number of boycott campaigns over the years, most recently when old images resurfaced of Liautaud chasing elephants and rhinos.
In 2015, Liautaud told the Chicago Tribune that he was no longer hunting big game.
Jimmy John's was also sued by the Illinois Attorney General in 2016 over the company's non-competition agreements for its employees.
The company reached a settlement, agreeing to warn all current and former employees that the non-compete clauses were unenforceable and to pay $ 100,000 to raise public awareness of the issue.
During a conference at the Champaign Public Library last year, Liautaud spoke of his criticisms over the years, saying he thought he would quit "several times".
"Did I look like the odious person who benefits, uses and breaks unions?", He told News-Gazette Media. "Because it's not me and it's not true."
[ad_2]
Source link