Beefing Up The Menu

0

Meet a local investor who has moved from high tech to high fat: Adam Levin, managing partner of Beverly Hills-based merchant bank Criterion Capital Partners.

He led Criterion’s purchase of social network Bebo.com from AOL for $880 million last June. Earlier this year, he led the purchase of 10 Fatburger franchises from Palm Springs to Woodland Hills, including six in Los Angeles County.

It may seem there’s a huge difference between social media and hamburgers, but Levin doesn’t see it that way.

“Whether it’s in new media or quick-service restaurants, we look for solid investments,” Levin said.

Actually, Levin had been looking for a way into the restaurant business for two years. When he saw the Fatburger franchises for sale, he scooped them up for $1.5 million.

The previous franchisee, Fatburger Restaurants of California Inc., a subsidiary of Santa Monica-based Fatburger Corp., filed for Chapter 11 in 2009 after defaulting on loans. Twenty-six locations in California and Nevada were auctioned off as part of bankruptcy proceedings.

Fatburger is considered a higher-end fast-food concept because it offers fresher ingredients at slightly higher prices.

Levin said all 10 of the Fatburgers were profitable before the bankruptcy.

Criterion, which had three Papa John’s pizza franchises before the Fatburger deal, wants to buy 50 restaurant locations by the end of the year.

Lately, he has been making the rounds of the restaurants even while working on new investment deals.

“My job doesn’t allow me to flip burgers on a daily basis, though,” he said.

No posts to display