Roark Capital Group Reports Record Revenue Growth for Firm’s Portfolio

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Leading Franchises Share Strategies and Results at Private Equity Group’s 3rd Annual Summit in Atlanta

Atlanta, GA – During a time when many companies failed to survive and others were seriously wounded, Roark Capital Group’s portfolio of franchise companies grew and had some of the best months in their history, executives announced at the equity firm’s 3rd Annual Summit held recently in Atlanta, GA.

Roark, an Atlanta-based private equity firm that has acquired 18 franchise/multi-unit brands with $4 billion collectively in system-wide revenues, continued its unique tradition of gathering associates from each brand to strategize for the future.

More than 120 C-level and other associates from Roark-owned companies were in attendance at the 2010 Summit, making it by far the largest in the event’s three-year history. The Summit is a two-day gathering that features strategic breakout sessions, outside speakers and social events.

Represented brands included Cinnabon, Carvel, Batteries Plus, Primrose Schools, FASTSIGNS, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Schlotzsky’s, McAlister’s Deli, Money Mailer and Roark’s two newest acquisitions, Pet Valu and Wingstop.

CEOs, Brand Presidents, Chief Operating Officers and heads of marketing, franchise development, IT, human resources, field operations, training, and real estate met with their peers to discuss what strategies and tactics are working and what is not working.

“We find that the exchanging of ideas between our brands provides for invaluable learning opportunities….and it is a lot of fun,” said Neal Aronson, founder and Managing Partner of Roark Capital Group, on the reason behind hosting the annual summit. Our portfolio companies come away from the summit with tangible tactics that can be immediately implemented to improve their company’s performance.”

Steve Romaniello, Managing Director at Roark Capital, opened this year’s summit by recognizing the work each brand did since last year’s event to significantly increase growth, revenue and profit in a very difficult economic environment.

“This clearly demonstrates that the best days are ahead for our brands,” Romaniello said. “We are looking forward to seeing how the lessons learned from this year’s summit are implemented and the results they generate.”

“Most of us work day in and day out in our own business and we don’t network enough,” said Tom McNeely, CEO of Pet Valu. “This provides us with opportunities to exchange ideas with like-minded peers on how to grow our systems, to share best practices on the operational side, and how to effectively improve our bottom lines.”

About Roark Capital Group
Roark Capital Group is an Atlanta-based private equity firm that specializes in business and consumer service companies with attractive growth prospects and revenues ranging from $20 million to $1.0 billion. Roark focuses on middle-market investment opportunities through family-owned business transfers, management/corporate buyouts, recapitalizations, going-private transactions, and corporate divestitures. In addition to direct marketers, Roark has acquired 18 franchise/multi-unit brands that collectively have more than 45,000 points of distribution, 3,000 franchisees, and $4 billion in system-wide revenues across 50 states and 36 countries. Its current franchise portfolio includes Carvel, Cinnabon, Schlotzsky’s, Moe’s Southwest Grill, franchisor of Seattle’s Best Coffee® on certain military bases and in certain international markets, McAlister’s Deli, Money Mailer, Fast Signs, Batteries Plus, Primrose Schools, Pet Valu and Wingstop. The firm has more than $1.5 billion of equity capital under management. For more information, visit www.roarkcapital.com.

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