PRIVATE EQUITY OWNED
Checkers / Rally's
Includes Checkers, Rally's, Checkers Drive-In
fast food · Tampa, FL
- PE Firm
- Arbour Lane Capital Management, Garnett Station Partners, and Guggenheim Investments
- Acquirer
- Oak Hill Capital
- Year Acquired
- 2017
Oak Hill Capital bought the drive-through burger chain for $525 million in 2017. By 2023, its lenders had taken control.
What They Did
- Oak Hill Capital acquired Checkers/Rally's for $525 million in 2017, loading roughly $300 million in debt onto a fast-food chain
- By 2023, the chain couldn't service the debt — narrowly avoided bankruptcy through a restructuring that slashed debt from $300 million to $75 million
- The restructuring took majority ownership away from Oak Hill and handed it to the lenders — Arbour Lane Capital, Garnett Station Partners, and Guggenheim
- The chain that survived decades of fast-food competition couldn't survive six years of PE debt
Since the Acquisition
- Checkers and Rally's closed locations three years running through 2024 — if your local drive-thru went dark, you weren't imagining it
- Your local Checkers now opens with one drive-thru lane instead of the chain's signature double
Sources
- Restructuring gives control of Checkers to its lenders — Restaurant Business Online(2023-06-20)
- Tampa fast-food chain has new owners in deal that cuts $225M of debt — Business Observer(2023-06-20)
- Checkers Drive-In Restaurants finalises recapitalisation deal — Verdict Food Service(2023-06-21)
- Checkers Cuts Debt and Welcomes New Ownership — QSR Magazine(2023-06-21)
- Ropes & Gray Advises Lenders In Checkers Recapitalization Agreement — Ropes & Gray(2023-06-21)
- Checkers & Rally's Franchise Review 2025 (FDD-based) — Franchise Chatter(2025-10-06)
- Checkers & Rally's new prototype cuts square footage almost in half — Restaurant Dive(2025-04-10)