Atkins Nutritionals, a once-desperate turnaround story, has recovered enough of its financial health to support a $425 million recapitalization, including a dividend of $118 million for backer Roark Capital Group, sister magazine Buyouts reported.

Atlanta-based private equity firm Roark Capital Group has acquired QualaWash Holdings, a provider of environmental services to the bulk transportation industry. QualaWash was a portfolio company of KLH Capital. Harris Williams & Co acted as the exclusive advisor to QualaWash. PRESS RELEASE Harris Williams & Co., a preeminent middle market investment bank focused on the [...]

The Wingstop board of directors has named former Pizza Inn CEO Charles Morrison as president and chief executive officer of the company. Morrison replaces James Flynn who becomes executive chairman of the board. Wingstop was acquired in 2010 by affiliates of Roark Capital Group, an Atlanta-based private equity firm. Founded in 1994 and headquartered in [...]

Roast beef sandwich chain Arby’s Restaurant Group Inc., which is majority owned by Atlanta-based Roark Capital Group, has named George Condos chief operating officer. Condos worked previously for Dunkin Brands, where he held the position of Vice President of Marketing, Development and Operations. Most recently he was SVP and Brand Officer of Dunkin Donuts. Roark Capital bought Arby’s this summer.

Atlanta-based buyout shop Roark Capital Group is buying Il Fornaio Corp., the owner of Corner Bakery Cafe and Il Fornaio restaurants and bakeries. Terms of the deal were not released. However, The combined proceeds from the sale of Il Fornaio Corp. and an earlier recapitalization represented a gross multiple of invested capital of approximately 5.7x and generated a gross IRR in excess of 22%. Based in Dallas, Il Fornaio has 119 restaurants across the U.S. Roark has more than $1.5 billion of equity capital under management.

Sponsor-backed restaurant deals proliferated in late May. The most high-profile deal was Golden Gate Capital‘s agreement, announced May 25, to take California Pizza Kitchen Inc. private for $470 million, more than a year after the company began looking for a buyer. Meanwhile, that same week, Buyouts reported that Bruckmann Rosser Sherrill & Co. agreed to [...]

Bruckmann Rosser Sherrill & Co. has agreed to sell Il Fornaio, an owner of Italian restaurants and bakeries, to Roark Capital Group, a source close to the deal told Buyouts. Tracing its roots back to a baking school established in Italy in 1972, Il Fornaio owns and operates 21 full-services restaurants and two bakeries. Most [...]

Troy Aikman, a Hall of Fame quarterback and Fox Sports analyst has joined the board of directors for private equity-backed restaurant chain Wingstop. Roark Capital Group, an Atlanta-based private equity firm with more than $1.5 billion under management, acquired the chicken wing chain in 2010. Wingstop is based in Richardson, Texas.

Private equity firm Roark Capital Group will buy nutrition company Atkins Nutritionals Holdings, the company behind the popular low-carbohydrate diet program, for an undisclosed amount. No terms of the deal were released. Roark is buying the company from North Castle Partners, a private equity shop specializing on health-focused consumer companies. Atkins was formed in 1989, and is based in Denver, Colo. Roark Capital is based in Atlanta.

Atlanta-based private equity firm Roark Capital Group has committed $105 million Canadian ($102 million) to environmental services firm GFL Waste & Recycling Solutions. Roark invested $60 million Canadian, and has committed an additional $45 million Canadian for future growth opportunities. Pickering, Ontario-based GFL Waste & Recycling provides solid waste collection and transfer stations; liquid waste collection and treatment; and soil remediation services. The company is also backed by Toronto-based Genuity Capital Partners.