News

California franchisee acquires 39 Wendy’s restaurants

July 28, 2014

Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.-based Cotti Foods has received a $39.4 million business loan from GE Capital’s Franchise Finance for the acquisition of 30 Wendy’s restaurants, the remodeling of existing units and the development of new units.

According to a news release, Cotti purchased the units — 32 in the greater Los Angeles market as well as seven in Hawaii — from Wendy’s International Inc. In total, Wendy's has sold 418 company-operated restaurants across 13 U.S. markets, primarily in the West, to align restaurant ownership.

"As part of our System Optimization initiative focused on building a stronger Wendy’s, we chose to sell our restaurants in two strategic markets to Cotti Foods, a strong, well-respected operator that is committed to growing our brand," Wendy’s CFO Todd Penegor said in the release. "We’re also excited to work with Cotti Foods to carry out our ultra-modern restaurant design and re-imaging program."

Cotti Foods was formed by Peter Capriotti II, who serves as its president and CFO.

"I chose GE Capital as our lender because of their restaurant industry expertise, and their knowledge of Wendy’s and its refranchising effort, which enabled them to underwrite this transaction in a remarkably short timeframe — about four weeks," Capriotti said in the release.