Roark Capital Group

American private equity firm

Roark Capital Management, LLC

Company type| Private
Industry| Private equity
Founded| 2001; 23 years ago (2001)
Headquarters|

Atlanta, Georgia

U.S.

Key people

* Paul D. Ginsberg
(president)
* Erik O. Morris (Chief Investment Officer)

Products| Leveraged buyout
AUM| US$37 billion (2023)[1]

Number of employees

| 1.4 million[2]
Website| roarkcapital.com

Roark Capital Management, LLC,[3] also known as Roark Capital Group or simply Roark Capital, is an American private equity firm with around $37 billion in assets under management. The firm is focused on leveraged buyout investments in middle-market companies, primarily in the franchise/multi-location, restaurant and food, health and wellness, and business services sectors. It is named for Howard Roark, the protagonist in Ayn Rand's novel The Fountainhead. The firm says that its name is not meant to connote any particular political philosophy but instead signify the firm's admiration for the iconoclastic qualities of independence and self-assurance embodied by the central figure in The Fountainhead.[4]

## History[edit]

The firm, which is based in Atlanta, Georgia, was founded in 2001 by the current Managing Partner, Neal K. Aronson. Senior team members include President Paul D. Ginsberg, Chief Investment Officer Erik O. Morris, and Managing Directors Timothy Armstrong, Stephen D. Aronson, Dennis Gies, Clay Harmon, Geoff Hill, Kevin Hofmann, Ian Picache, Gregory Smith, Sarah Spiegel, Michael Thompson, and David Wierman.

Prior to founding Roark Capital Group in 2001, Aronson was a co-founder of U.S. Franchise Systems in 1995. Roark currently is investing out of its fifth institutional private equity fund.[needs update]

## Investments[edit]

Roark's current and former portfolio companies include:

### Current investments[edit]

* Aftermath Services
* Anytime Fitness
* The Cheesecake Factory[5]
* CKE Restaurants: (Carl's Jr., Hardee's, Green Burrito & Red Burrito)
* Culver's (minority investment)
* Divisions Maintenance Group
* Driven Brands: 1-800-Radiator & A/C, Abra, CARSTAR, International Car Wash Group/ICWG, Maaco, Meineke, Merlin 200,000 Mile Shops, Xpress Lube, Take 5 Oil Change, Pro Oil Change, Econo Lube & Tune
* Fitness Connection[6]
* Great Expressions Dental Centers
* Home Service Store
* Inspire Brands:[7] (Arby's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic Drive-In,[8] Jimmy John's, Dunkin', Mister Donut, Baskin-Robbins)
* Installation Made Easy
* Jim 'N Nick's BBQ Restaurants[9]
* Massage Envy
* Mathnasium
* Miller's Ale House
* Orangetheory Fitness
* Pet Retail Brands: (Bosley's, Pet Supermarket, PetValu) Petstores[10]
* Primrose Schools
* Self Esteem Brands: (Basecamp Fitness, The Bar Method, Waxing the City)
* ServiceMaster Brands: (ServiceMaster Clean, ServiceMaster Restore, AmeriSpec, Furniture Medic, Merry Maids)
* Subway[11]

### Former investments[edit]

* Atkins Nutritionals
* Batteries Plus Bulbs[12]
* Cyber Core Technologies
* Drybar
* Fastsigns
* GFL Environmental
* Il Fornaio: (Corner Bakery Cafe)[13]
* Money Mailer
* Movie Gallery
* Naf Naf Grill
* Peachtree Business Products
* PSC Info Group
* Qualawash
* Solterra Recycling
* United States Arbitrage Finance II
* USFS
* Waste Pro
* Wingstop

## References[edit]

1. ^ Durbin, Dee-Ann (August 24, 2023). "Sandwich chain Subway will be sold to fast-food investor Roark Capital". Associated Press.
2. ^ Form ADV filing
3. ^ "Roark Capital Management, LLC". OpenCorporates. November 24, 2004. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
4. ^ "About Our Name". Roark Capital Group. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
5. ^ "ROARK CAPITAL BUYS A PIECE OF CHEESECAKE FACTORY". Restaurant Business Online. April 20, 2020.
6. ^ "Atlanta private equity firm buys another fitness chain". Atlanta Business Chronicle. February 4, 2019.
7. ^ "The Wendy's Company Sells Ownership Interest in Inspire Brands for $450 Million". wendys.com. Wendy's Company. August 16, 2018. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
8. ^ Thorn, Bret (September 26, 2018). "Inspire Brands to buy Sonic Corp. for $2.3B". Nation's Restaurant News. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
9. ^ "Roark Capital Group Acquires Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q" (PDF). July 10, 2017.
10. ^ "Pet Retail Brands: North America's 3rd Largest Pet Retailer". chainstoreguide.com. Chain Store Guides, LLC. October 8, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
11. ^ Lucas, Amelia (August 24, 2023). "Subway sandwich chain sells itself to Dunkin' owner Roark Capital". CNBC. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
12. ^ Kaiser, Tom (July 22, 2016). "Roark Sells Batteries Plus Bulbs as Retail Heats Up". franchisetimes.com. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
13. ^ "Atlanta's Roark Capital buys Il Fornaio parent firm". San Francisco Chronicle. June 14, 2011.

## External links[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Private equity and venture capital

Investment types|

* Buyout
* Leveraged
* Venture
* Mezzanine
* Growth
* Secondaries
* Equity co-investment

History|

* Early history
* 1980s
* 1990s
* 2000s
* 2010s
* 2020s

Terms and
concepts|

| Buyout|

* Financial sponsor
* Management buyout
* Divisional buyout
* Buy–sell agreement
* Leveraged recapitalization
* Dividend recapitalization

|

Venture|

* Angel investor
* Business incubator
* Post-money valuation
* Pre-money valuation
* SAFE
* Seed money
* Startup company
* Venture capital financing
* Venture debt
* Venture round

Structure|

* Private equity firms and funds
* Limited partnership
* Limited liability company
* Carried interest
* Management fee
* Pledge fund
* Publicly traded private equity
* Business Development Company
* Venture capital trust
* Private investment in public equity (PIPE)
* SPAC

Investors|

* Corporations
* Institutional investors
* Pension funds
* Insurance companies
* Fund of funds
* Endowments
* Foundations
* Investment banks
* Merchant banks
* Commercial banks
* High-net-worth individuals
* Family offices
* Sovereign wealth funds
* Crowdfunding

Related
financial terms|

* AUM
* Cap table
* Capital call
* Capital commitment
* Capital structure
* Distribution waterfall
* EBITDA
* Envy ratio
* High-yield debt
* IPO
* IRR
* Leverage
* Liquidation preference
* M&A
* PME
* Taxation of private equity and hedge funds
* Undercapitalization
* Vintage year

* Private equity and venture capital investors
* Private equity firms
* List of private equity firms
* Venture capital firms
* List of venture capital firms
* Angel investors
* Portfolio companies

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template