ATLANTA -- Church's Chicken, with more than 1,500 fast-food locations, is to be sold by one California private-equity firm to another.
San Francisco's FFL Partners has agreed to sell the Church's brand to the owner of the Quiznos subs chain, High Bluff Capital Partners in San Diego, along with support from funds managed by FS Investments.
The fate of the company's headquarters was not disclosed by a spokesperson, but the current chief executive officer, Joe Christina, is expected to continue leading the restaurant business, according to a news release. Terms of the agreement were not released.
Most of the units in the chain are owned by franchisees.
Church's, which also goes by Texas Chicken in some international markets, is the 43rd-largest limited-service restaurant by U.S. sales, according to QSR magazine. It was founded in San Antonio in 1952 and it has more restaurants in Texas than any other state.
In a news release, High Bluff said that it would expand the chain's growth in the United States and elsewhere, including 100 new stores in the next year. It said the chain had systemwide sales of nearly $1.2 billion last year during the pandemic. That's about what it was nearly a decade ago, according to a news release at the time. Over the past three years, the number of U.S. restaurants in the company has gradually declined, according to a company franchise disclosure document.