Claim Jumper sells major stake to investment firm

Nation's Restaurant News, Oct 31, 2005

IRVINE, CALIF. -- Claim Jumper Restaurants Inc. has sold a majority stake in the high-grossing, 35-unit operator to a private equity firm for $200 million to $250 million, officials of the casual-dining chain indicated.

Robert Ott, Claim Jumper's president and chief operating officer, said the buyer is Leonard Green & Partners LP of Los Angeles, which holds stakes in such firms as FTD Group, Rand McNally and Rite Aid.

Proceeds from the sale will fund Claim Jumper's expansion at the rate of five to seven branches annually for the next five years, Ott said. Management of Irvine-based Claim Jumper will remain the same, and Craig Nickoloff, the company's founder and chief executive, retains an ownership stake.

Claim Jumper, which expects to open a restaurant in Lombard, Ill., in January and has signed two other leases in the Chicago area, had sales estimated at $226 million in 2004, up 14.1 percent, from a year-end total of 33 branches.