Smokey Bones at Broadcasting Square.
Tim Leedy | Media News Group | fake images
Greasy marks said Tuesday that it filed a confidential application to take its Twin Peaks and Smokey Bones restaurant chains public through an initial public offering, less than a week after federal authorities charged the restaurant company and its president Andy Wiederhorn with an alleged $47 million bogus loan scheme.
Fat Brands announced its intention to spin off Twin Peaks through an initial public offering last year. At the time, the company had already disclosed a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into Wiederhorn.
On Thursday, Fat Brands, Wiederhorn and several other people were criminally indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles on wire fraud, tax evasion and other charges related to the alleged scheme. In a separate civil complaint filed Friday, the SEC accused the company and Wiederhorn of violations involving the same conduct.
Both Fat Brands and Wiederhorn, through an attorney, denied the charges.
Since its founding in 2005, Twin Peaks has grown to nearly 115 restaurants in the United States and Mexico. Fat Brands purchased the company in 2021. The sports bar chain is known for its female staff's revealing uniforms, similar to Hooters.
Smokey Bones is a more recent addition to Fat Brands' portfolio, which currently includes 18 chains. Olive garden owner Darden Restaurants He created the barbecue chain in 1999 but later sold the brand. Fat Brands acquired it in September 2023, with the goal of converting more than half of its 61 corporate-owned restaurants into Twin Peaks locations.
“Our priority is to use the proceeds of any transaction to deleverage the balance sheet,” Wiederhorn said of the potential initial public offering (IPO) on the company's first-quarter conference call on May 1.
Wiederhorn has a 45% stake in Fat Brands through Fog Cutter Holdings, according to FactSet.
The company's shares have fallen 9% this year, dragging its market value to about $90 million.
