Bob Evans Restaurants is an American national chain of restaurants owned by Golden Gate Capital and based in New Albany, Ohio. After its founding in 1948 by Bob Evans, the restaurant chain evolved into corporate brand name Bob Evans Farms, Inc., (BEF) and eventually formed a separate food division responsible for the sale of its products in other markets. They made several major acquisitions including Owens Country Sausage in 1987, and split in January 2017 with the sale of its restaurant division to an affiliate of Golden Gate Capital. BEF Foods remained independently owned until September 2017 when it was sold to Post Holdings.
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Overview
The Bob Evans family restaurant chain includes over 500 locations in 18 states, mostly in the Mid-Atlantic, Midwestern, and Southeastern portion of the United States. All locations are corporately owned and not franchised.
The restaurants feature a country living theme with a close connection to farms. Breakfast is served from open to close, and most locations sell baked goods, snacks, and small gift items. The company offers pork products and refrigerated side dishes in the retail grocery and food service markets. The distribution of these products are independent of the restaurant division and are sold under the Bob Evans and Owens Country Sausage brand names.
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History
Bob Evans Restaurants was founded in 1948 by Bob Evans, when he began processing and packaging sausage for his small diner located in Gallipolis, Ohio. Early operations were based out of his southeastern Ohio farm in Rio Grande. As the reputation of his sausage grew, so did the number of guests that visited his farm to buy it in bulk. Friends and family partnered together to establish Bob Evans Farms, Inc., in 1953. The increased traffic led him to build the first company restaurant at the farm in 1962 that was named "The Sausage Shop".
After running into a capacity issue filling large orders, Bob Evans contracted with his cousin Tim Evans of Evans Packing Co. to package Bob Evans Sausage products. Another relative, Dan Evans, served as CEO until his retirement in 2000.
The company acquired Texas-based Owens Country Sausage in 1987. The company branded its otherwise identical restaurants in Texas as Owens Restaurants due to trademark issues. By January 2006, all Owens restaurants were closed.
The company operated a Mexican-themed restaurant called Cantina del Rio in the mid-1990s, a move which founder Bob Evans called "a disaster" in 2003.
The Evans family controlled daily operations of the company until 2000 when Dan Evans retired as CEO. After Dan's retirement, Stewart K. Owens (a former officer of the Owens Country Sausage company and later president of BOBE) assumed control of Bob Evans Farms Inc. as CEO. In 2001, he became chairman of the board. Company profits faltered under Owens' tenure. In August 2005, after corporate profits had dropped in eight of the previous nine-quarters, Owens announced his resignation. After operating for several months under interim CEO Larry Corbin, the company hired Steven Davis, former president of Long John Silver's, as CEO in May 2006.
In July 2004, Bob Evans Farms purchased the California-based Mimi's Cafe restaurant chain (operating under SWH Corporation) for $182 million. Mimi's Cafe had 144 locations throughout the U.S. at the time. They featured casual dining and American food with a French emphasis and decorative elements. Bob Evans Farms sold Mimi's Cafe to the U.S. branch of Groupe Le Duff in 2013.
On August 17, 2009, Bob Evans opened a prototype restaurant in Xenia, Ohio. This restaurant has a more farm-like feel and resembles the Bob Evans farm.
CEO Steven Davis resigned in December 2014.
As of Q4 2015, the chain announced its intention to sell 145 properties to Mesirow Financial Holdings Inc. for a total price of $200 million. The net proceeds are expected to be approximately $165 million and the deal is expected to close in Q2 2016.
Separation from and dissolution of Bob Evans Farms
On January 24, 2017, Bob Evans Farms announced the sale of its restaurants business unit to the private equity company Golden Gate Capital (owners of Red Lobster and California Pizza Kitchen) for US$565 million plus the assumption of up to US$50 million in liabilities. In addition to the restaurants, Golden Gate Capital will also take ownership of the Bob Evans Farm in Bidwell, Ohio, near Rio Grande. Once the sale is finalized, Bob Evans Farms CEO Saed Mohseni will move to Golden Gate Capital to serve as President of the Bob Evans restaurant division. BFF Foods President Mike Townsley will become President and CEO of the new Bob Evans Farms, which would remain a public company and will focus on grocery products such as breakfast sausage and refrigerated side dishes. Net proceeds from the sale to Bob Evans Farms are expected to be between $475 million to $485 million.
On the same day, Bob Evans Farms entered into an agreement to acquire the Pineland Farms Potato Co. of Mars Hill, Maine, for US$115 million. Pineland Farms is a value-added potato processor, including a 900-acre (360 ha) potato farm, serving the retail and food service markets; they also operate a cheese processing business. Both the sale of the restaurant division to Golden Gate Capital and the purchase of Pineland Farms Potato Company closed on March 1, 2017.
On September 19, 2017, Bob Evans Farms announced that it would be acquired by Post Holdings. Post Holdings also announced that upon completion of the acquisition, they would combine their existing Michael Foods refrigerated retail business with that of Bob Evans Farms. This unit would initially operate under the Bob Evans Farms name (before eventually being changed to Post Refrigerated Retail) and would be led by the then-current Bob Evans Farms President and CEO, Mike Townsley. Bob Evans Farms foodservice business would be moved to Michael Foods, will be led by current division President Jim Dwyer. The sale of Bob Evans Farms to Post Holdings closed on January 12, 2018, at which point Bob Evans Farms stock was delisted from the NASDAQ Global Select Market and the company ceased to exist as an independent organization.
See also
- List of casual dining restaurant chains
- List of restaurant chains in the United States
References
External links
- Bob Evans Restaurants official website
- Bob Evans Farms official website
- Bob Evans Farms, Inc. SEC Filings
Source of article : Wikipedia
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