Jackmont Hospitality and JIB Management Purchase Florida TGI Fridays™ Restaurants

Fridays on Track to Refranchise Nearly All Corporate-Owned Locations in 2015

News provided by

May 27, 2015, 11:45 ET

CARROLLTON, Texas, May 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Today TGI Fridays™ announced it has completed two separate transactions that will transition 32 company-owned Florida restaurants to franchise-owned locations.

The 16 Fridays restaurants in the Miami and Ft. Lauderdale area have been purchased by existing Fridays franchise partner Jackmont Hospitality, Inc. ("Jackmont"), and the 16 restaurants in Orlando have been purchased by JIB Management, Inc. ("JIB"), a new franchise partner for Fridays. Together, these two transactions keep Fridays on track to refranchise nearly all of its corporate-owned restaurants this year.

Jackmont, a veteran Fridays franchise partner for more than 20 years, doubles their Fridays portfolio with the purchase of the 16 Florida locations and two additional locations in Charlotte, NC. Since first joining the Fridays family, Jackmont has successfully owned and operated some of Fridays highest performing stores.

"We are extremely pleased to expand our investment in TGI Fridays," said Jackmont CEO Daniel Halpern. "We've had great success operating Fridays restaurants for two decades, and our confidence in the future of the brand made this a great step forward."

JIB is an experienced franchisee, who brings with them decades of experience owning and operating the more than 300 restaurants in their current portfolio.

"We could not be more excited to begin this partnership with the Fridays team," JIB President & CEO Anil Yadav remarked. "We see significant potential in the brand, and we look forward to helping further build Fridays in the markets where we will operate."

"As we continue our refranchising journey, we are very pleased to have the opportunity to grow existing partnerships and to bring new franchise partners on board," said Ricky Richardson, President and Chief Operating Officer, TGI Fridays USA. "Jackmont and JIB are strong franchisees who have proven track records and share our passion for people. We look forward to working closely with them as we continue to grow and strengthen the Fridays brand."

Underscoring Jackmont and JIB's commitment to the Fridays brand, both companies' agreements include plans to reimage a significant number of their acquired restaurants and to open new Fridays restaurants in their markets.

About TGI Fridays
As the original casual dining bar and grill, TGI Fridays offers authentic American food and legendary drinks, served with genuine personal service. Bringing people together to socialize and celebrate the freeing and liberating spirit of "Friday" was the concept's founding premise, from which the brand promise "In Here, It's Always Friday®" was born. To share that social Fridays experience all over the world, TGI Fridays proudly serves guests with over 900 restaurants in nearly 60 countries. For more information, visit www.fridays.com or follow us on Twitter at @TGIFridays.

About Jackmont Hospitality, Inc.
Jackmont Hospitality is an award-winning, minority-owned foodservice management company and one of the fastest growing TGI Fridays franchisees. Additionally, Jackmont oversees on-site foodservice management contracts throughout the U.S. for airport concessions, healthcare foodservice and school district dining programs.

About JIB Management
JIB Management is a strong, highly-respected foodservice management company who owns and operates more than 300 restaurants across California, Texas, and the Southeast U.S. Currently, JIB owns and operates about 220 Jack in the Box restaurants – Jack in the Box's largest franchisee, and a brand JIB has been with since 1989. They also have 71 Denny's (and are the largest Denny's franchisee in California), 4 Sizzler's, 5 Corner Bakery and 6 El Pollo Loco restaurants.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150203/173040LOGO

SOURCE TGI Fridays