The Minneapolis-based casual dining operator, Granite City Food & Brewery has hired Houlihan Lokey Capital, Inc. to explore a possible sale of the company.
The hired investment bankers are gauging interest in selling or merging Granite City’s 31 restaurants that are currently operating in 13 states, one of which is located in Franklin on McEwen Dr.
Due to a large amount of debt, the company has operated at a net loss every year since opening in 1999, and was delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in 2013.
Revenue for the eatery, which also brews its own beer, rose from about $134 million to about $136 million last year, and the company does expect to build four additional restaurants around the country in 2015.
Concept Development Partners gained a large amount of ownership of the company in 2011, and now owns about 80 percent of the business.
Contact Sinclaire Sparkman at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter @sinclairesparky
