Manna Buys 38 More Cafés, Now One of Panera Bread’s Largest Franchisees

May 17th, 2018

Panera Bread bicycle delivery Manna Development Group has acquired 38 Panera Bread cafés in Colorado, expanding its operations to over 130 Panera Bread cafés across seven states.

CapitalSpring, a leading private investment firm focused exclusively on the branded restaurant industry, structured and led the acquisition financing and recapitalization. CapitalSpring says it currently manages assets of approximately $1.3 billion and has completed investments in over 50 different restaurant brands and more than 4,000 restaurant locations.

Owl Rock Capital, established in 2016, served as co‐lender and lead arranger. It is a direct lender which focuses on middle-market businesses across a variety of industries.

Manna had its start in 2003 when Paul Saber and Patrick Rogers opened their first Panera café in San Diego.

“Paul and Patrick have built an amazing culture and tremendous operational discipline throughout their organization,” said Chad Spaulding, a managing director at CapitalSpring, and “we are thrilled with the opportunity to invest in one of the best franchise operators in an industry‐leading fast casual restaurant brand.” Jason Ruiz, a vice president at CapitalSpring, added, “We have grown to admire and respect the entire leadership team and look forward to supporting Manna’s continued expansion.”

“CapitalSpring delivered a unique financing solution that allowed us to achieve our strategic goals, while maintaining ownership and control of our company,” said Paul Saber, president & CEO of Manna. “We have enjoyed building our relationship with CapitalSpring in recent years and have been impressed not only by their ability to deliver on promises, but also their tremendous restaurant perspective and resources. We look forward to a long relationship with CapitalSpring and appreciate their support to date.”

Trinity Capital LLC served as financial advisor, and Snell & Wilmer LLP served as legal advisor to Manna. CapitalSpring was represented by Chapman & Cutler LLP.

Don Sniegowski

Don launched the news site Blue MauMau in the Fall of 2005 after franchise buyers and owners told him that they felt it was almost impossible to shovel through the propaganda and sales spin from business news, disclosures, and even franchise experts in order to make informed and wise investments.

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