Dave's Hot Chicken acquired by Roark Capital

Roark Capital acquired Dave’s Hot Chicken in March 2025 from the investor group that had controlled the company since 2019, at an enterprise value of $1–10bn. Chief executive Bill Phelps, president Jim Bitticks and the founders Arman Oganesyan and Dave Kopushyan, respectively chief brand and chief culinary officers, remained in place, and the business was positioned as a standalone holding rather than integrated into either of the acquirer’s multi-brand platforms. Dave’s Hot Chicken operates a franchised quick-service restaurant platform specialising in Nashville-style hot chicken, built around a focused menu of tenders and sandwiches offered across a graduated range of heat levels. The company retains ownership of the brand, the recipes and the operating standards, while franchise partners fund and operate the estate under licence. The system comprised 315 restaurants at the time of the transaction, with up to 175 further openings anticipated during the year, against 245 at the close of 2024, when system-wide sales in the United States approached 617 million dollars, 57% above the preceding year. The acquirer therefore acquired a royalty stream rather than an operating estate, the franchise partners bearing the capital cost of the restaurants and the operating risk attaching to them while the brand owner collects a percentage of their sales, with the consequence that expansion depends on the recruitment of operators rather than on the deployment of capital. The company originated in 2017 as a stall in a Los Angeles car park, established by four founders who pooled 900 dollars between them, and opened its first permanent site the following year. An investor group led by Bill Phelps, who had previously developed and sold Blaze Pizza, assumed control in 2019 and initiated the franchising programme, while the rapper Drake, the singer Usher and the actor Samuel L. Jackson took positions in the brand. The development plan addressed European and Asian markets, following the opening in London, alongside airports and university campuses in the United States, where the company operated few such sites. Management anticipated a possible listing within three to five years, following the course the acquirer had taken with Wingstop in 2015.