Olympus Partners announced the purchase, for $155 million, of 95 Chili's Grill & Bar restaurants located in the Northeastern and mid-Atlantic region from Brinker International, Inc. Olympus is establishing a new Chili's franchise named Pepper Dining, Inc. to operate the restaurants. John McGlone a former senior operating executive of Chili's will be the CEO of Pepper Dining. Olympus plans to actively open new units.

Paul Rubin of Olympus Partners commented, "We are very excited to own these exceptional assets in the casual dining category and be associated with the Chili's brand and the Brinker organization. We look forward to partnering with John and his team."

The Olympus restaurant portfolio has included Hometown Buffet, a Wendy's franchisee, a Taco Bell franchisee, a KFC franchisee and a Golden Corral franchisee.

Founded in 1988, Olympus Partners is a Stamford, Connecticut based private equity firm focused on providing equity capital for middle market management buyouts and for companies needing capital for expansion. Olympus is an active, long-term investor across a broad range of industries, including healthcare services, financial services, consumer products and business services. The company manages over $3.1 billion on behalf of 50 blue-chip investors including corporate pension plans, state retirement systems and university endowment funds.