Investor Group Injects $15 Million Into Long John Silver's

A group of investors injected a total of $15 million into LJS Partners LLC, the firm that purchased the Long John Silver's restaurant chain last month from Yum Brands Inc. According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the equity sale for LJS Partners closed Dec. 5.

As Business First reported in its Dec. 23 print edition, the purchase of Long John Silver's included equity investments by a group of local partners and franchisees, and bank financing from Fifth Third Bank .

The sale price has not been disclosed by the partners or Louisville-based Yum Brands (NYSE: YUM).

The local investors include: � Rick Duffy, chief operating officer of Creative Alliance Inc. and chairman of LJS Partners. Duffy previously was vice president of franchising and acquisitions for KFC Corp., a division of Yum Brands, and has been a franchisee of KFC and Wendy's restaurants.

� Deborah P. Comley, a daughter of Jim Patterson Sr., a former restaurateur who was the first president of Long John Silver's and a founder of the Rally's Hamburgers and Chi Chi's Mexican restaurant brands.

� Ed Glasscock, chairman emeritus of Frost Brown Todd LLC and co-chairman of the firm's mergers and acquisitions group.

� Sharon P. Hagan, a daughter of Jim Patterson Sr.

� Troy Hanke, CFO of B.F. South Inc. and related companies controlled by Ulysses "Junior" Bridgeman that franchise Wendy's and Chili's restaurants.

� Jim Patterson II, president of Pattco LLC, a Louisville-based private investment firm started by his father, Jim Patterson Sr.

� Paul Thompson, chief operating officer of B.F. South and its related companies.

� Dan Ulmer, former chairman and CEO of PNC Bank, Kentucky and chairman of the Louisville Bats baseball club.

LJS Partners also includes five franchisees who control more than 30 percent of the company's restaurants.

Long John Silver's has more than 1,300 franchised units that employ more than 8,400 workers.

For more, visit www.ljsilvers.com/.

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