Texas-based fast-meals chain Whataburger now belongs to a Chicago investment firm.
BDT Capital Partners has agreed to collect a majority stake in San Antonio-primarily based Whataburger, the agencies introduced Friday.
The financial terms of the deal were not released.
Whataburger will stay based in San Antonio, and the businesses will “start exploring growth plans” in step with a statement.
Whataburger’s founders, the Dobson family, will preserve a minority ownership position within the enterprise. President and CEO Preston Atkinson and board chairman Tom Dobson will hold their seats on the board. However, they will retire from daily operations.
Tom Dobson said that the choice to promote the organization “is each thrilling and bittersweet” for the family.
“Whataburger has been the heart and soul of our family legacy for almost 70 years, but we sense surely accurate approximately the partnership with BDT,” he stated. “They have a music report of achievement with corporations as special as ours that want to grow while preserving subculture and own family history. They rely on advisors and companions who have labored intently with a different circle of relatives and organizations and have exquisite recognition for doing the good thing.”
Ed Nelson, Whataburger’s leader economic officer and controller, will become the corporation’s president. Several other business enterprise executives are also being promoted.
Whataburger was founded by entrepreneur Harmon Dobson in 1950. According to the organization’s website, Dobson had one aim in thought: “to serve a burger so massive that it took hands to maintain, and so properly that after unmarried chunk customers couldn’t help but exclaim, ‘What a burger!’ He named his humble burger stand, positioned on Ayers Street in Corpus Christi, ‘Whataburger.’ ”
Today, Whataburger has more than 820 locations, with more than 670 of these in Texas. Whataburger’s other locations are in the South and Southwest, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. According to a company news release, the enterprise has over 43,000 employees and more than $2 billion in annual sales.
“Whataburger is an iconic logo and outstanding agency with an important legacy of a circle of relatives possession, loyal clients, treasured network involvement, devoted and proficient employees, and a distinctly skilled control team,” Tiffany Hagge, managing director of BDT Capital Partners, said in a written declaration. “We sit up for a protracted-time period partnership with the Whataburger team, persevering with their dedication to serving super, amazing-tasting food at a fee and turning in superior client experience. We are excited to guide Whataburger as they innovate and pursue accelerated growth in current and new markets.”
The sale was no longer surprising. Whataburger stated last month that it had hired investment banking company Morgan Stanley to help the organization determine how best to fuel its expansion.
“Whataburger has grown drastically over the years. And, intending to preserve gratifying our clients, we’ve been exploring distinctive alternatives to increase the emblem and introduce it to new audiences,” Atkinson stated. We’ve gone through this procedure purposefully and diligently because we desired to find an associate who honors our values, culture, and sixty-nine-year legacy of the circle of relatives lifestyle.”
Richard Perez, CEO of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, said Whataburger has been a solid corporate citizen for a long time in San Antonio and throughout, “Whataburger has been extremely concerned in the San Antonio community and has been involved in diverse forums and the path they have taken substantially to community groups,” he stated. “They’re continually everywhere.”
Perez stated that BDT Capital Partners’ plans to increase the chain will probably create more excellent jobs in San Antonio and also give more possibilities back to the community.
“This permits them to make bigger the footprint, now not handiest restaurants however additionally in their retail area,” he stated. “This will allow them to go to another level, and the fact that they’re staying in Texas bodes very well for us.”
