Restaurant chain California Pizza Kitchen to be acquired by investor group, sources say

By Abigail Summerville

Nov 20 (Reuters) - California Pizza Kitchen has signed a deal to be acquired by an investor group led by Consortium Brand Partners and including Todd Boehly's investment firm Eldridge Industries, for under $300 million, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The investment represents an opening foray into the restaurant category for Consortium Brand Partners, which owns activewear brand Outdoor Voices, home decor company Jonathan Adler, and lifestyle brand Draper James, which was founded by actress Reese Witherspoon.

Investment bank Piper Sandler was running a sale process for California Pizza Kitchen, which had been owned by lenders following a July 2020 bankruptcy triggered by a pandemic slowdown and a heavy debt load from its previous private equity owner.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity as the information is private.

Eldridge and Piper Sandler declined to comment. CPK and Consortium Brand Partners did not immediately respond to comment requests.

Eldridge Industries is a well-known investor in consumer businesses, as well as insurance, technology and sports. Its restaurant investment business, Convive Brands, which owns Le Pain Quotidien and The Little Beet, will help operate CPK restaurants following the deal, the sources said.

The first California Pizza Kitchen restaurant launched in 1985 in Beverly Hills. It now has nearly 200 locations globally.

The company's value has increasingly skewed toward its brand, as opposed to the restaurants, the sources said. It has a partnership with Nestle NESN.S to sell its frozen pizzas in grocery stores across the country, and a partnership with manufacturer Litehouse to sell its CPK-branded salad dressings in stores.

Elsewhere in pizza chain deals, investment firms have been circling Papa John's PZZA.O. Yum Brands YUM.N is considering a sale of Pizza Hut, and MTY Food Group MTY.TO, the parent company of dozens of restaurant concepts including pizza chain Papa Murphy's, is exploring a sale.

(Reporting by Abigail Summerville in New York; Editing by David French and Bill Berkrot)

((abigail.summerville@thomsonreuters.com))