Twin Peaks will soon be its own public company.
Parent company FAT Brands filed a Form 10 registration statement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, stating the 18-brand portfolio company’s intent to distribute five percent of the Twin Hospitality Group to shareholders. FAT Brands will keep the remaining 95 percent of the group, which also encompasses Smokey Bones.
FAT Brands started trading stock in 2017. The company bought Twin Peaks in 2021 from Garnett Station Partners for $300 million.
Twin Peaks is a sports bar concept known for wall-to-wall TVs and a staff of women in revealing outfits. The company did $548 million in sales last year with 109 units in the United States and Mexico. When FAT Brands bought Twin Peaks in 2021, the concept had 80 stores. AUVs are higher than $5 million.
FAT Brands’ 18 franchises have some-2,300 stores and account for about $2.5 billion in global sales. Some of its other concepts are Johnny Rockets, Fazoli’s, Hot Dog on a Stick and Fatburger.
Related: Will Andy Wiederhorn’s Criminal Indictment Impact Store Sales, Twin Peaks’ IPO?
In May, FAT Brands “took a significant step” toward Twin Peaks and Smokey Bones becoming a standalone entity,” co-CEO Rob Rosen said on its third quarter earnings call. The company confidentially filed a registration statement for Twin Peaks, FAT Brands announced May 14[MOU1] .
“We view this potential IPO or alternative transaction as a strategic opportunity to unlock value for FAT shareholders,” Rosen said. “Shortly, we intend to refinance Twin Peaks’ securitization debt, which will optimize our financial structure prior to any IPO or other transaction.”
Proceeds from the IPO are intended to deleverage Fat Brands’ balance sheet, which includes more than $1 billion in debt from rapidly acquiring so many brands.
The initial public offering comes after the SEC and the U.S. Department of Justice charged FAT Brand’s former CEO Andy Wiederhorn for allegedly misappropriating company money for personal expenses. Wiederhorn remains chairman of the board.
“The filing of the Form 10 Registration Statement is an important milestone in unlocking value and growth opportunities for Twin Hospitality Group and the Twin Peaks brand, while continuing to generate long-term value for FAT Brands shareholders,” Ken Kuick, Co-CEO of FAT Brands, said in a press release. “We look forward to completing the separation later this year, realizing significant benefits for both companies.”
Related: FAT Brands CEO Andy Wiederhorn Steps Down Amid Government Investigation
Twin Peaks CEO Joe Hummel said he wants to double the brand’s unit count and see systemwide sales hit $1 billion in the next five years.
“We still see a lot of white space out there to continue growing in the Sunbelt market with Texas being our home base and plenty of opportunities between Florida and the Carolinas and then venturing into the Mid-Atlantic region up to Pennsylvania and beyond,” Hummel told Franchise Times this summer.
He said Twin Peaks wasn’t impacted by the legal issues at FAT Brands. “We are very siloed and pretty much stand on our own as a company without shared services,” he said.
On FAT Brands’ third quarter earnings call, Kuick said Twin Peaks is the company’s “fastest-growing concept.”
“Year to date, we opened nine new lodges, bringing our total to 115 locations,” Kuick said. “We also completed our first Smokey Bones to Twin Peaks conversion in Lakeland, Florida, during the third quarter, with our second conversion underway and several more planned for next year.”
FAT Brands reported systemwide sales increasing more than 31 percent to $143.4 million in Q3 compared to last year’s Q3. But year-to-date same-store sales declined by 2.7 percent compared to 2023.