To: John Liu who wrote (79 ) 6/12/1998 5:21:00 PM From: WEBNATURAL Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 618
Here's the old news... News May 21, 10:19 Eastern Time All American to Acquire Benny's Bagels S. PLAINFIELD, N.J. (May 21) BUSINESS WIRE -May 21, 1998--All American Food Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAFG), a franchiser and licenser of the Goldberg's New York Bagel chain and the SoupChef gourmet soup concept, disclosed today the identity of the bagel chain whose acquisition by All American was announced last week. The name of the chain was withheld until all the franchisees had been notified. The company being acquired is Benny's Bagels, a 25-unit chain based in Dallas, TX, and the largest privately-owned bagel company in the region. Co-founded in 1994 by CEO Kevin Wilson and his two partners, Greg Buzanis and Don Wilson, Benny's now operates 24 franchised units in addition to its company-owned training store. With three additional stores under development, the chain will soon have a total of 28 stores. All Benny's units are in Texas, and 20 of them are in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. "This concentration is one of the key strengths of the chain," according to Andrew Thorburn, CEO of AAFG. "It has enabled Benny's to generate great market visibility and operating efficiencies rarely achieved by chains of this size." AAFG plans to continue to use the Benny's name and operating systems, and to expand the Benny's concept throughout the region. Kevin Wilson, founder and CEO of Benny's, believes the acquisition will be a positive development for existing franchisees, as well as providing a growth strategy for Benny's. "We feel that we have reached the size to go to the next step, and a merger with a similarly positioned chain affords out entire franchise system with an opportunity to continue to grow and compete effectively in the retail marketplace. The combination of what All American does and what we have achieved here in Texas should provide an ideal platform for continued prosperity of our franchisees." The transaction, which is valued at approximately $3,000,000 in cash and stock, is expected to close by July 8, 1998.