Long Point Capital is pleased to announce that it has partnered with the management team to structure and help finance the sale of The Saxton Group Holdings ("The Saxton Group") to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan ("ESOP"). Headquartered in Dallas,TX, The Saxton Group is the largest McAlister's Deli franchisee in the country and was the first Pinkberry franchisee outside of California or New York. Founded by Kelly Saxton in 1982, The Saxton Group is now one of the largest 100% employee-owned companies in the restaurant industry.
As the largest McAlister's Deli franchisee in the country, The Saxton Group operates 50 fast-casual restaurants located throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. In addition, The Saxton Group operates four Pinkberry frozen yogurt stores in the Dallas Metroplex. Today, the Company employs more than 2,000 people and was named as one of Restaurant Franchise Monitor's Top 100 Restaurant Franchisees.
"I never imagined when I opened my first restaurant nearly 30 years ago that we would grow to who we are today," said company founder and Chairman Kelly Saxton. "I've always believed that the difference between our restaurants and others is our people. We have always been committed to the growth and development of our employees. The ESOP allows us to acknowledge their contribution to our success and to invest more deeply in them."
Eric Von Stroh, Managing Director of Long Point Capital, said, "We are excited about this new partnership and believe ownership by the employees will be a meaningful competitive advantage in helping the management team build on their impressive achievements in the restaurant industry."
When asked about the Long Point Capital investment Kelly Saxton added, "LPC believes in finding and investing in great management teams. We're aligned in this partnership with the shared goal of allowing our existing leadership team to continue to provide exceptional restaurant industry experiences to our guests, employees and investors."
Long Point Capital assembled an investment partnership led by CapitalSpring, a private investment firm specializing in the restaurant and franchise industries.
If you have questions about this transaction, please contact: Ira Starr, Eric Von Stroh or Norm Scherr.