Capital Raising

The Perry Restaurant Group was a New England-based steakhouse chain that opened its first restaurant in the '60s. Eventually, with sales approaching $30m, operations in 4 states and around 800 employees, the founder decided to sell. He engaged Chris Ellis to represent and advise him during this process. With negotiations with a 3rd party buyer at an advanced stage, the founder's senior manager approached Chris, saying he would like to match the 3rd party price and buy the business, but he had no money.

The founder agreed to finance about 10% of the $22.5 million purchase price, and then asked Chris - who had completed negotiations on his behalf - to assist his manager in raising the $20 million or so needed to complete the acquisition. Initially, the manager was expecting to give up a majority of the equity to finance the purchase, but Chris was able to raise the necessary amount entirely through fixed rate term debt, allowing the manager to avoid any dilution.