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Is Logan's Roadhouse Owned by Private Equity?

Not anymore — Logan's Roadhouse was owned by Kelso & Company, which acquired it in 2010, but the firm has since exited. The effects of that ownership can linger.

FORMERLY PE OWNED

Logan's Roadhouse

Includes Logans Roadhouse, Logan's

casual dining · Nashville, TN

PE Firm
Kelso & Company
Year Acquired
2010

Kelso loaded a steakhouse with buyout debt. Two owners and two bankruptcies later, parent CraftWorks shut every restaurant and cut loose 18,000 workers across its brands.

What Happened

  1. Kelso & Company acquired Logan's Roadhouse in a 2010 leveraged buyout, loading the chain with hundreds of millions in debt — about $416 million by its 2016 bankruptcy
  2. Filed for bankruptcy in August 2016 as sales slid — closing 18 underperforming locations and handing the chain to its creditors
  3. Sold to CraftWorks Restaurants in 2018, which filed its own bankruptcy in March 2020 — two owners, two bankruptcies, in four years
  4. In spring 2020, bankrupt CraftWorks closed all 261 of its company-owned restaurants and furloughed most of its 18,000 employees across Logan's, Old Chicago, and its other brands
  5. Fortress Investment Group bought the brands out of CraftWorks' bankruptcy in 2020 for about $93 million, rebranding the group SPB Hospitality before selling Logan's to operator SSCP Management in a deal confirmed March 2026

The Damage Done

  • Locations shrank from 256 at the 2016 bankruptcy to about 135 today, with entire markets losing their Logan's Roadhouse
  • The chain that sold itself on peanut shells on the floor and hand-cut steaks spent a decade servicing buyout debt instead of investing in the restaurants
  • The survivors limped on at half the chain's former size — and in a sale confirmed in March 2026, Logan's was handed to its third owner in six years, the parent company of Cicis Pizza

Sources

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What people ask

Is Logan's Roadhouse owned by private equity?

Not anymore. Logan's Roadhouse was formerly owned by Kelso & Company starting in 2010, but the firm has since exited. The effects of PE ownership often linger.

What happened to Logan's Roadhouse after the acquisition?

Locations shrank from 256 at the 2016 bankruptcy to about 135 today, with entire markets losing their Logan's Roadhouse The chain that sold itself on peanut shells on the floor and hand-cut steaks spent a decade servicing buyout debt instead of investing in the restaurants

Who owns Logan's Roadhouse?

Logan's Roadhouse is owned by Kelso & Company, which acquired it in 2010.

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