Rift in family over sale of Boston restaurant group




The decision by Charlie Sarkis, owner of Boston’s Back Bay Restaurant Group, to sell most of the company to a private equity firm rather than passing or selling it to his children has caused a rift in his family,

the

Boston Globe

reported

in a lengthy article. The report noted:

At least two of Sarkis’s six children are planning to open their own rival restaurants in Boston.

The buyer insisted that the children sign a non-compete agreement that would prohibit them from working in the restaurant business for three years after the sale, without offering compensation in exchange for signing the agreement. They refused to comply, and their father retaliated, the

Globe

article said.

According to the report, eldest son Charles Sarkis Jr., who had been operations manager, left the company after his job was threatened. Daughter Amy Sarkis, who had been events manager, was suspended without pay. Son Patrick Sarkis remains as a recruiting director, but his father sought to have him ousted from the Back Bay Architectural Commission.

Back Bay owns 33 restaurants and has 3,400 employees. The deal with the private equity firm, Tavistock Group, involves the sale of 19 of the restaurants for about $50 million, the

Globe

article said.

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Charlie Sarkis, who is battling a brain tumor, also owns the Wonderland Greyhound Park, which is in financial trouble. The

Globe

report noted that Sarkis is eager to complete the Tavistock deal because of $10 million in debt related to the Wonderland track. The children’s refusal to sign the non-compete agreement is one of several factors delaying completion of the deal, the article said.

Sarkis is divorced from the children’s mother, and his second wife does not have a close relationship with his children, the

Globe

report noted.

Another Sarkis son, Paul, who formerly worked for his father’s company, told the

Globe

that he and his brother Charles offered to buy the entire business for $70 million about five years ago, but their father told them the time was not right for a sale. Paul Sarkis told the

Globe

that when Tavistock bid for the company last fall, his father gave them only days to beat the price. In January, Charlie Sarkis offered to sell them a piece of the business for $15 million if the non-compete agreement was signed two days later. (Source:

Boston Globe,

July 24, 2011.)

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