Dhanani Group, the second largest quick-service restaurant franchisee group in the United States, with 849 restaurants across 23 states, closed financing totaling $500 million. Monarch Alternative Capital, a private credit firm with approximately $9.5 billion of assets under management, and its partners led the five-year secured bank loan facility to provide Dhanani Group with long term capital to support the financial strength of the existing business and aid in the future growth of the company.
Since entering the restaurant franchise segment in 1994, Dhanani Group has built its company by focusing on underperforming and mismanaged franchises and working to improve the restaurant experience for its patrons. The emphasis on solid brands has enabled the company to deliver consistently strong product quality and financial growth.
“The Dhanani Group was founded on the basis of providing hands-on operating expertise to hundreds of restaurant franchises across the U.S. to capitalize on the positive growth trends in the QSR space. Our ability to strengthen our capital structure in the current market through a new financing enables us to pursue our vision,” Shoukat Dhanani, co-CEO of Dhanani Group, said.
“The Dhanani Group is an exceptionally well-run company with strong franchisor support that is positioned to thrive in various market environments,” Joshua Acheatel, managing principal at Monarch Alternative Capital, said. “We were drawn to Dhanani’s demonstrated record of success investing in and growing multiple franchise concepts through the company’s cohesive and long-standing management team. Monarch and our investors are pleased to partner with the Dhanani Group to provide both capital and operating expertise to help the company continue on its path of successfully improving and growing its asset base.”
“Monarch provides us with a unique and differentiated value proposition through their prior experience in the restaurant industry and ability to provide a holistic capital solution in an expedited manner,” Amin Dhanani, co-CEO of Dhanani Group, said. “The new capital led by Monarch comes at an important time in the firm’s history, providing Dhanani with the resources to capitalize on our growth initiatives in the years ahead.”
Dhanani Group was advised by Centerview Partners, FTI Consulting, and Vinson & Elkins. Monarch was represented by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.
