Chain restaurant veterans Doug Jacob, the co-founder of &pizza, and Sandy Beall, former CEO of Ruby Tuesday, are raising funds to acquire an existing "quick-serve" restaurant brand.
The pair formed a shell company called FAST Acquisition Corp. that hit public markets on Friday with the goal of raising at least $200 million for the purchase.
"We assimilate fast and I think we'll pick a good brand," Beall told Cheddar.
These kinds of special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) were once derided on Wall Street, but have recently become a more popular means of taking a company public.
"The credibility of SPACs has grown tremendously as you've seen in the market today," Jacob said. "It's speed to capital. It's price certainty."
The team's criteria include restaurants with "small dining rooms" that utilize "an alternative way to get cuisine to the customer." The use of third-party or native delivery is also a plus.
Jacob said the team chose now to make this acquisition because coronavirus has accelerated a number of trends in the restaurant industry that it hopes to benefit from.
"You're going to see real estate prices drop dramatically, probably the lowest real estate prices in the past decade," Jacob said. "So our ability to grow through this time, as opposed to growing out of leases, we think is going to be a huge benefit. Talent is also going to be available."
Both executives touted their experience managing public companies, but Jacob highlighted his experience running restaurant chains that employ technology in new ways.
"We're going to apply a lot of our knowledge in tech, both with off-the-shelf solutions as well as building our own tech stack," he said.
In addition to investments in real estate and tech, the team is aiming to help bolster the brand of whatever company it acquires to meet shifting consumer expectations.
"I don't think consumers are going to attach themselves to brands that don't have values that align with their values," Jacob said.
Stocks opened higher for the first time this week as Wall Street digested positive economic data that showed inflation was cooling.
Fans of the Grand Theft Auto series got a glimpse of the latest release that's not due out until 2025. The trailer was officially released after a leak on the 'X' platform, giving an idea to industry experts of the massive effect GTA will have on the gaming sector. Cheddar News senior reporter Michelle Castillo breaks it all down.
Tax season is around the corner as soon as we conclude the holiday festivities. Mark Steber, chief tax information officer with Jackson Hewitt, joined Cheddar News to discuss some tax changes that people should be aware of and what to expect during next year's tax filing season.
There's a winning lottery ticket in Florida worth $44 million that's gone unclaimed and is set to expire next week.
Getting crafty for the holidays to entertain guests can be pretty expensive. Cheddar News explains how you can do all of that on a budget.
New regulations from the U.S. government may cause the price of electric vehicles to go up.
New data shows job openings fell in October even though hiring remains healthy.
The holiday season is here and it could be a stressful time as people plan shopping, cooking and traveling. Sally Holmes, editor-in-chief of InStyle Magazine, joined Cheddar News to discuss a new social media trend #Treatculture that helps people take a moment to treat themselves and how that is a psychological benefit to relieve stress.
English Wikipedia raked in more than 84 billion views this year, according to numbers released Tuesday by the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit behind the free, publicly edited online encyclopedia. And the most popular article was about ChatGPT (yes, the AI chatbot that’s seemingly everywhere today).
Wikipedia has released its list of most viewed articles for 2023 with the site seeing over 84 billion visits. The most searched topic was ChatGPT with nearly 50 billion page views
