Unbridled Capital recently provided sell-side advisory to High Plains Pizza on the sale of 82 Pizza Hut restaurants in MT, WY, UT, CO, KS, OK and TX. The restaurants were sold to existing franchisee Grand Mere Capital, led by Mike Cherney.
In 1962, Bill Colvin decided to leave the oil industry and venture out into franchising with the Pizza Hut Brand. Bill and then partner Norman Blankenship opened their first location in Liberal, Kansas in 1962, and after their partnership split, Bill and his family grew to own and operate Pizza Hut restaurants throughout the country. Their focus was on quality, service and giving back to their communities. Not surprisingly, High Plains Pizza became known for its brand leadership and for having some of the best and highest volume dine-in restaurants in the entire Pizza Hut system. Bill had four sons who became involved in the business: Kent, Mike, Tracy and Greg. Kent became President of High Plains Pizza and shepherded its growth and vision. Kent’s imprint on the Pizza Hut brand will continue to be seen for many years to come.
“I have known and trusted Rick Ormsby for many years. When we came to the decision to sell our 56-year-old family business, there was no hesitation in turning to Unbridled Capital to represent High Plains Pizza. Unbridled played an instrumental role in helping us through this transition. We appreciate their relationships with buyers, their analytical expertise, their integrity, their persistency and their friendship. We would highly recommend Unbridled Capital to anyone looking to sell or finance their business,” said Kent Colvin.
“We feel honored to have represented High Plains Pizza in this transaction. It is humbling to work for such a successful and tenured franchisee of over 56 years. It is no exaggeration
to say that Kent Colvin, his family and staff are among the most honorable, professional and impressive clients we have had the privilege of representing. We wish them many blessings as they enter a new phase of their lives. We also congratulate Mike Cherney and Grand Mere Capital on our third acquisition together in the past 18 months. They have now grown to about 150 Pizza Huts, and we are certainly excited to watch them succeed and help change the culture and future of the Pizza Hut brand,” said Rick Ormsby, Managing Director.
As a condition of this closing, Unbridled Capital will make a charitable contribution to the Pizza Hut museum at Wichita State University. We want to show our respects to the fantastic legacy of the Pizza Hut brand. We want to be a blessing because we’ve been blessed.
With about 15 active and recent Pizza Hut assignments, Unbridled Capital provides the franchise community with unrivaled investment banking services. For more information, please contact Rick Ormsby at 502-252-6422 or [email protected].