Back Bay owns the East Coast chains Abe & Lou's, Atlantic Fish, Bouchee, Charley's, Coach Grill, Joe's and Papa Razzi, totaling 33 restaurants in all. Management is planning two new restaurants this year with locations in Framingham, MA; and Boston, as well as a renovation of its Paramus, NJ; unit.

Back Bay founder Charles Sarkis opened his first restaurant in 1964. The company grew to 17 units in 1988, and now the establishments are in a venues ranging from malls to urban areas.

Last month GE' s franchise finance unit, which is based in Scottsdale, AZ, provided a $58-million loan to Sizzling Platter, a Salt Lake City-based franchisee that owns units of Little Caesar, Red Robin and other chains. In January it gave $35 million to New York City's Heartland Brewery chain.