Is Sbarro owned by private equity?

Not anymore. Sbarro was formerly owned by MidOcean Partners starting in 2007, but the firm has since exited. The effects of PE ownership often linger.

What happened to Sbarro after the acquisition?

Nearly 200 locations closed across the two bankruptcies, gutting Sbarro's once-ubiquitous mall food court presence The chain that defined mall pizza for a generation only found its comeback after the buyout-era owners lost control, rebuilding under operator-led ownership to about 800 locations, most of them outside the malls it once defined

Sbarro is owned by MidOcean Partners, which acquired it in 2007.

Is Sbarro Private Equity Owned?

FORMERLY PE OWNED

Sbarro

Includes Sbarro's, Sbarro Pizza

pizza · Columbus, OH

PE Firm: MidOcean Partners
Year Acquired: 2007

They paid $450 million for mall pizza, piled on debt, and filed for bankruptcy. Twice.

What Happened

MidOcean Partners bought Sbarro for $450 million in 2007, funding the deal mostly with borrowed money and piling about $325 million of new debt onto the chain
Filed for bankruptcy the first time in April 2011, closed 25 locations, and handed ownership to lenders
Filed for bankruptcy again in March 2014 — the second filing in three years — closing roughly 40% of its North American locations in the process
Moved headquarters from Melville, New York to Columbus, Ohio to cut costs — even the pizza chain's home address got downsized

The Damage Done

Nearly 200 locations closed across the two bankruptcies, gutting Sbarro's once-ubiquitous mall food court presence
The chain that defined mall pizza for a generation only found its comeback after the buyout-era owners lost control, rebuilding under operator-led ownership to about 800 locations, most of them outside the malls it once defined

Sources

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Is Sbarro Owned by Private Equity?

Sbarro

What Happened

The Damage Done

Sources

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