Amici Partners to acquire family restaurant chain Friendly’s Restaurants

FIC Restaurants, the US-based restaurant company that operates family restaurant chain Friendly’s Restaurants, has agreed to offload substantially all of its assets to Amici Partners Group.

Amici Partners Group is said to be made up of experienced restaurant investors and operators who have been engaged with some well-known quick service restaurants and casual dining chains for 25 plus years.

Presently, Amici Partners Group is affiliated with BRIX Holdings, which is a multi-brand franchising company with national and global experience in the restaurant industry.

Almost all of the 130 corporate-owned and franchised restaurant locations of Friendly’s Restaurants are anticipated to stay open subject to Covid-19 limitations.

The deal is expected to save thousands of corporate-owned restaurant team member and franchisee roles.

Amici Partners to acquire family restaurant chain Friendly’s Restaurants. Photo courtesy of Mike Mozart from Funny YouTube, USA.

For enabling an efficient sale process, Friendly’s Restaurants has filed voluntary petitions for relief under chapter 11 of the US States Bankruptcy Code, in addition to a motion seeking approval of the sale to Amici Partners Group and a chapter 11 plan that will cover payment of all allowed claims.

George Michel – CEO of FIC Restaurants said: “Over the last two years, Friendly’s has made important strides toward reinvigorating our beloved brand in the face of shifting demographics, increased competition, and rising costs.

“We achieved this by delivering menu innovation, re-energizing marketing, focusing on take-out, catering and third-party delivery, establishing a better overall experience for customers, and working closely with our franchisees and restaurant teams.

“Unfortunately, like many restaurant businesses, our progress was suddenly interrupted by the catastrophic impact of COVID-19, which caused a decline in revenue as dine-in operations ceased for months and re-opened with limited capacity.”