Posted on 06/17/2019 9:16:30 AM PDT by Red Badger
Fast-food chain Whataburger – beloved by generations of folks living in the Southeast – is now the property of a Chicago investment firm.
BDT Capital Partners has agreed to acquire a majority stake in San Antonio-based Whataburger, the companies announced Friday.
Financial terms of the deal were not released.
Whataburger will continue to be headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, and the groups will “begin exploring expansion plans,” according to a statement.
Whataburger’s founders, the Dobson family, will keep a minority ownership position in the company. President and CEO Preston Atkinson and board chairman Tom Dobson will keep their seats on the board, but will retire from daily operations.
The decision to sell the company “is both exciting and bittersweet” for the family, Tom Dobson said.
“Whataburger has been the heart and soul of our family legacy for nearly 70 years, but we feel really good about the partnership with BDT,” he said. “They have a track record of success with businesses as special as ours that want to grow, while preserving culture and family history. They are trusted advisors and partners who have worked closely with other family businesses and they have a tremendous reputation for doing the right thing.”
Ed Nelson, Whataburger’s chief financial officer and controller, will become the company’s president. Several other company executives are also being promoted.
Whatburger was founded by entrepreneur Harmon Dobson in 1950. According to the company’s website, Dobson had one goal in mind: “to serve a burger so big that it took two hands to hold, and so good that after a single bite customers couldn’t help but exclaim, ‘What a burger!’ He named his humble burger stand, located on Ayers Street in Corpus Christi, ‘Whataburger.’ ”
Today, Whataburger has more than 820 locations, with more than 670 of those in Texas. Whataburger’s other locations are in the South and Southwest, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Oklahoma. The company has more than 43,000 employees and has more than $2 billion in annual revenue, according to a company news release.
“Whataburger is an iconic brand and extraordinary company with an important legacy of family ownership, loyal customers, valuable community involvement, dedicated and talented employees, and a highly experienced management team,” Tiffany Hagge, managing director of BDT Capital Partners, said in a written statement. “We look forward to a long-term partnership with the Whataburger team, continuing their commitment to serving high-quality, great-tasting food at a value and delivering a superior customer experience. We are excited to support Whataburger as they continue to innovate and pursue accelerated growth in existing and new markets.”
The sale was not unexpected. Whataburger said last month that it had hired investment banking firm Morgan Stanley to help the company figure out how best to fuel its expansion.
“Whataburger has grown significantly over the years. And, in order to keep satisfying our customers, we’ve been exploring different options to expand the brand and introduce it to new audiences,” Atkinson said. “We’ve gone through this process purposefully and diligently because we wanted to find a partner who honors our values, culture and 69-year legacy of family tradition.”
$20.00 for three whataburgers and fries (no drinks).
The party’s over.
And we still have Buc-ee’s.
At least Texomaland still has Watsonburger. It may not last much longer though.
Denison, Texas and Durant, Oklahoma.
From an investment standpoint this is a good one. Currently What A Burger has locations in 9 states. Just increasing the number of states with a What A Burger to 18 states could double revenue! …. I know Texas has the most and is a big state, so maybe grow into 16 more states to double. That still leaves another double of revenue when in all 50 states. Lot of up side!
Chorizo is like pinto beans. If you grew up eating them all the time,you either love ‘em or hate ‘em. There is no middle ground.
Of all places, Chicago. Well, that’s the end of Whatburger for me. I hope the Chicago boy’s see this.
They put up that ugly ass orange and white striped metal bldg across from Gibsons dept store near our Mesquite TX home many many years ago.
But the burgers kicked Ass!
Gainesville FL has or had, both.
Don’t know about nowadays, been some time since I frequented Hogtown.
Better get your burgers now, before the Chicago money men destroy the chain....
Well, that was fun while it lasted...
When I moved from Ft Worth to No Fl, I am happy to say Whataburger came with me! I LOVE Whataburger. My wife said where do you want to go for Father’s Day. I responded: do you need to ask!!
Gainesville FL has both In n Out and Whataburger.
Chorizo gives me heartburn................but so do bananas...............
When I went to UF all we had was Hardees.
I’ve had Whataburger in Ocala, Florida, and frankly it just isn’t the same experience.
I enjoy eating at Whataburger in El Paso because I can get Green Chilis on my burger!!
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I’m glad there are some people who see that American “capitalism” is actually now a game of financial engineering, based on the money cult’s access to gobs of printed, fiat money at low interest rates, from our monetary central-planning apparatchiks.
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Plenty around here. It’s the minority crowd of pro- Fed. Resv.\illegal abdication of Const. power groupies threads that make it so much ‘fun’ to debate.
They gonna make the food edible? Get the decor out of 70s porn-chique? Just burn them all down as a lost cause?
I was there late ‘70s, lived on SW 2nd Ave in the “student ghetto” about 2 blocks from What-a-Burger.
We would check the Alligator every Monday two-for coupons, no expiration daters were most prized!
Didn’t mean to post twice, lol.
They’re all ex-campaign workers for Woodrow Wilson, trying to recall those glory days of yore.
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