Krystal ends talks about possible sale of company

Nation's Restaurant News,  March 5, 2007  

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CHATTANOOGA, TENN. -- The Krystal Co., operator of the namesake regional burger chain, has ended discussions about a possible sale of the company. None of the suitors was identified.

Krystal last summer said it had retained Credit Suisse First Boston Group to find a buyer for the privately owned concern.

Krystal is owned by a Tennessee-based investment group that includes former Wendy's operator and onetime Pennant Foods chief executive Fred Exum. The group bought Krystal in 1997 from the founding Davenport family for $108 million and the assumption of about $30 million in debt. The chain numbered 350 stores at the time. The count has since passed 430 outlets in 12 states.

In lieu of a sale, Krystal will "aggressively expand our business, and we'll do so primarily through the development of company-owned stores," said president and chief executive James Exum.

More than half of the Krystal system is owned by the franchisor.

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