Friedman Fleischer Closes Church's Chicken Deal

Friedman Fleischer & Lowe has closed its acquisition of Church's Chicken from Arcapita for an estimated $350 million. The deal price represented about a 7x EBITDA multiple and was over half equity. The chain of fried chicken restaurants was a solid investment for Arcapita, earning it a cash on cash return of 2x in just over 4 years, including a $163 million sale-leaseback facility that closed at the time of Arcapita's purchase. Bank of America, Golub Capital and Wells Fargo provided a $155 million facility for the deal.