Shoney's Trades Hands

ATLANTA-The nation’s largest owner of Church’s Chicken restaurants will acquire Shoney’s Restaurants in a bid to return the Nashville, TN–based chain to its “glory days.”

Atlanta restaurateur David Davoudpour says he will acquire all 282 Shoney’s Restaurants through his Atlanta-based Royal Hospitality Corp. from an affiliate of Texas-based Lone Star Funds, which acquired the chain five years ago for about $275 million.

The price of the acquisition was not disclosed but Hannibal Myers, chief development officer for Shoney’s North America Corp., the firm formed to acquire the Shoney brand, tells GlobeSt.com that the sale includes only the restaurant’s trademark and franchise rights. Myers says the buyer will evaluate whether to purchase the real estate associated with the restaurants at a later date.