Dave’s Hot Chicken is reportedly exploring a sale that would value it at around $1 billion, according to Reuters.
The fast casual, which has more than 250 restaurants worldwide, is working with investment bank North Point and could attract offers from private equity firms, sources told the publication. Dave’s is majority owned by founders and childhood friends Dave Kopushyan, Arman Oganesyan, Tommy Rubenyan, and Gary Rubenyan. It’s received several celebrity investments, like Drake, Samuel L. Jackson, Usher, Michael Strahan, and Maria Shriver.
Dave’s—one of the fastest-growing fast casuals over the past few years—began as a popup in an East Hollywood parking lot in 2017. The company operated out of the parking lot for seven months before receiving a $100,000 investment from one of the founders’ brothers so that it could move into a brick-and-mortar location. In 2019, the founders tapped Bill Phelps—cofounder of Wetzel’s Pretzels and an investor of Blaze Pizza—to become CEO and help grow the company.
The chain is known for its hot chicken sliders and tenders, in addition to its house-made kale slaw, mac & cheese, and seasoned French fries.
The chain has locations in the U.S., Canada, the Middle East, and most recently the U.K., where it opened its 250th unit worldwide in December. Dave’s opened roughly 80 locations in 2024 and aims to reach the same number in 2025. It’s working with a roughly 1,000-unit pipeline.
“We try to maintain a fairly high standard of food quality and guest service to make sure that it’s this loop that feeds itself,” Dave’s president Jim Bitticks told QSR magazine last year. “You can keep growing because the profitability’s there, the franchisees have interest, but the business continues to excel from a sales perspective because the food quality is there and the service is there. And it’s just this self-sustaining model.”
In the past year, private equity has shown great interest in franchise restaurant concepts with scale. For instance, Roark Capital finalized its purchase of Subway in April 2024. Last year, Blackstone acquired Tropical Smoothie Cafe and Jersey Mike’s and invested in 7 Brew. Reuters also previously reported that Freddy’s, Crumbl, and 750-unit quick-service franchisee Sizzling Platter are seeking a sale. To kick off 2025, new private equity player Maple Park Capital bought a majority interest in 575-unit franchise Rita’s Italian Ice and Frozen Custard.
