Heartland Foods
Encyclopedia
Heartland Foods is one of the largest franchises of Burger King
. The Downers Grove, Illinois
-based company owns and operates over 225 restaurants in six US States.
bankruptcy
.
While several individual BK franchisees also took advantage of the AmeriKing failure and the resulting sale of its assets, Miami-based franchisee Al Cabrera purchased the largest chunk of stores, 130 locations primarily in the Chicago
and the upper mid-west, from the failed company for a bargain basement price of $16 million, or approximately 88% of their original value. Taking these stores, he and his partners created a new company called Core Value Partners to renovate and update the locations which had deteriorated during Ameriking's decline. During this time, the company was renamed Heartland Foods and it purchased 120 additional stores from other financially distressed owners and completely revamped them as well. The resulting purchases made Mr. Cabrerra Burger King's largest minority franchisee and Heartland one of BKC's top franchisee groups. By 2006, the company was valued at over $150 million, and was sold to New York
-based GSO Capital Partners
.
Burger King
Burger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...
. The Downers Grove, Illinois
Downers Grove, Illinois
Downers Grove is a village in Downers Grove and Lisle Townships, DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 48,724 at the 2000 census, with an official estimated population of 49,250 in 2008.-History:...
-based company owns and operates over 225 restaurants in six US States.
History
By 2001 and nearly eighteen years of stagnant growth, many of Burger King's franchises were in some sort of financial distress. The lack of growth severely impacted BKC's largest franchise, the nearly 400 store AmeriKing; by 2001 the company, which until this point had been struggling under a nearly $300 million debt load and been shedding store across the US, was forced to enter Chapter 11Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code
Chapter 11 is a chapter of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is available to every business, whether organized as a corporation or sole proprietorship, and to individuals, although it is most...
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
.
While several individual BK franchisees also took advantage of the AmeriKing failure and the resulting sale of its assets, Miami-based franchisee Al Cabrera purchased the largest chunk of stores, 130 locations primarily in the Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and the upper mid-west, from the failed company for a bargain basement price of $16 million, or approximately 88% of their original value. Taking these stores, he and his partners created a new company called Core Value Partners to renovate and update the locations which had deteriorated during Ameriking's decline. During this time, the company was renamed Heartland Foods and it purchased 120 additional stores from other financially distressed owners and completely revamped them as well. The resulting purchases made Mr. Cabrerra Burger King's largest minority franchisee and Heartland one of BKC's top franchisee groups. By 2006, the company was valued at over $150 million, and was sold to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
-based GSO Capital Partners
GSO Capital Partners
GSO Capital Partners is one of the largest credit-oriented alternative asset managers in the world and a major participant in the leveraged finance marketplace....
.