FM Restaurants Appoints Randy Sharpe as Chief Executive Officer and Ned Algeo as Chief Financial Officer

NEW YORK, Oct. 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- FM Restaurants HoldCo, LLC ("FM Restaurants"), an affiliate of Z Capital Group, LLC ("Z Capital"), a leading alternative asset manager of opportunistic, value-oriented private equity and credit funds, today announced the appointments of Randy Sharpe as Chief Executive Officer and Ned Algeo as Chief Financial Officer.

With nearly two decades of regional and national management experience at a variety of multi-concept restaurant chains, Mr. Sharpe brings deep operational expertise to FM Restaurants. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President of Operations at Romano's Macaroni Grill, a casual dining chain specializing in Italian cuisine, where he oversaw the restaurant operations (including menu development and vendor relations) and improvement of more than 80 company-owned and more than 20 franchised locations across the country. Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Operations for Real Mex Restaurants, where he managed the operations of the company's casual dining concepts – El Torito, Chevys Fresh Mex, and Acapulco.

Mr. Algeo joins FM Restaurants with a strong track record of financial discipline and exemplary leadership at prominent companies in the restaurant, food and beverage, consumer products and telecommunications industries. He previously served as the Senior Director of Finance and interim Chief Financial Officer of Real Mex Restaurants from 2016 through June 2017, during which time the company achieved consistent year-over-year positive same-store sales growth and outperformed the casual dining industry index in California. Most recently, Mr. Algeo served as Vice President of Finance at Mobilitie, the largest privately held telecommunications infrastructure company in the United States.  

"Randy and Ned are the right people to build out the FM Restaurants team and we are thrilled to partner with them as we pursue investment opportunities in the restaurant space," said James Zenni, Z Capital's President and Chief Executive Officer. "I look forward to working closely with them to execute on our strategic growth objectives as we look to expand key brand initiatives, complete strategic acquisitions and grow our national footprint."

"Throughout my career, I have focused on driving improvements at leading restaurant chains through best-in-class operational and organizational efficiency practices," said Mr. Sharpe. "As the restaurant industry and particularly the casual dining sector continue to evolve, I look forward to working with Jim, Rahul, Ned and the rest of the exceptional leadership team to identify and execute on the opportunities that will further elevate our brands and position them for long-term growth and success."

Mr. Algeo said, "FM Restaurants is entering an exciting stage of growth and reinvestment, and I look forward to working closely with Randy to implement a financial infrastructure that will allow us to provide unmatched resources and support to our flagship brands."

"We are pleased to welcome Randy and Ned, who have the operational expertise, creative vision and deep understanding of the restaurant industry to steer the company forward," said Rahul Sawhney, Senior Managing Director of Z Capital. "With prior executive management experience at Real Mex Restaurants, and with the support of Z Capital's extensive resources and expertise, they are well-positioned to lead the FM Restaurants team to execute its strategy of acquiring and enhancing industry-leading brands."

FM Restaurants, which is an affiliate of Z Capital, has been approved as the buyer in the court-supervised auction for certain assets of Real Mex Restaurants.

About Z Capital
Z Capital and its subsidiaries are a leading alternative asset management firm with approximately $2.3 billion of regulatory assets under management. For over two decades, the leadership of Z Capital has worked together to realize significant capital appreciation by making controlling equity investments in companies across a diverse array of industries including consumer, gaming, hospitality, industrial and automotive.

Z Capital creates value for its investors by collaborating with talented management teams to generate investment returns by structurally improving the strategic position, competitiveness and profitability of its portfolio companies. The Z Capital Private Equity Funds' portfolio companies are within numerous industries, have aggregate annual revenues of approximately $1.3 billion, sell products in 57 countries, and have over 11,000 employees and an excess of 200,000 associates, directly and through joint ventures worldwide. The Z Capital investment strategy and portfolio companies are described at www.zcapgroup.net.

Contact
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
Jonathan Keehner / Julie Oakes / Kate Clark
212-355-4449

SOURCE Z Capital Group

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