New owner, more growth for Church’s Chicken

By Joe Guy Collier

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Church’s Chicken expects growth to accelerate as it announced Monday that San Francisco private equity firm Friedman Fleischer & Lowe closed on a deal to buy the Atlanta-based chicken chain.

Arcapita, a Bahrain-based investment firm, announced in June that it planned to sell Church’s to Friedman Fleischer & Lowe. Arcapita acquired Church’s in 2004 from Atlanta-based AFC Enterprises, the parent company of rival chicken chain Popeyes.

Church’s, which will continue to have its headquarters in Atlanta, has increased sales during the recession. Global systemwide sales rose 5 percent last year as the chain stuck to a strategy of being a value leader.

“We don’t change our strategy other than that we’re going to speed up development even more,” said Harsha Agadi, Church’s president and chief executive officer.

Church’s, which ended last year with 1,625 stores, expects to add more than 100 stores this year, surpassing last year’s total of 93, Agadi said.

It’s already opened 77 stores this year and recently bought 23 Mrs. Winner’s stores in the Nashville area that will be converted to Church’s Chicken restaurants, he said.

Church’s expects the expansion to be split equally between international and domestic markets, Agadi said. The chain has signed a letter of intent to open a restaurant in Iraq late this year or early next year under the Texas Chicken name, he said. Church’s uses the Texas name for international markets.