Boston Rest., Capucino's sign merger agreement

Nation's Restaurant News, April 11, 1994

BOSTON -- Boston Restaurant Associates, owners and operators of Pizzeria Regina and Bel Canto restaurants, and Capucino's have signed a definitive agreement to merge their concepts in a stock-for-stock transaction.

The agreement, which was first announced in January, had been delayed by a lawsuit filed by Capucino's shareholders, claiming that the merger was poorly conceived and "grossly inadequate and unfair." The suit has been settled, said George Chapdelaine, who is co-founded of Boston Restaurant Associates and will become the new company's president and chief executive.

Under the terms of the agreement, the new company will be called Capucino's and will have two divisions -- a full-service Italian chain that combines the existing four Capucino's and two Bel Canto restaurants into a midscale Italian concept still to be named and izzeria Regina, Chapdelaine said. Each division initially will operate six units. Sales for the combined companies are projected in excess of $15 million.

In addition, Capucino's will move its Louisville, Ky., headquarters to Boston, and Boston Restaurant Associates will be its controlling shareholder. John Polcari, chairman of Boston Restaurant Associates and a member of the family that founded Pizzeria Regina in 1909, has been named the new company's spokesman.

"There is synergy between the Bel Canto units and Capucino's units," Chapdelaine said. "There are strengths that both companies brought that alone they wouldn't have. We are excited about the opportunity because it will give us a real chance to expand the Regina name and Polcari food products."