First Watch Restaurant (Nasdaq: FWRG) Acquires 16 Franchise Restaurants in North and South Carolina

First Watch Restaurant Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: FWRG) (together with its subsidiaries “First Watch” or the “Company”), the leading Daytime Dining concept serving breakfast, brunch and lunch, today completed its previously announced acquisition of 16 of its franchise-owned restaurants and corresponding development rights in North Carolina and South Carolina for an aggregate purchase price of $49 million on a cash-free, debt-free basis.

“The acquisition of these 16 locations helps solidify corporate ownership of First Watch restaurants along the East Coast – and provides us with additional territories to grow organically for years to come,” said Chris Tomasso, First Watch CEO & President. “The strategic acquisition of franchise-operated restaurants continues to be an important part of our long-term growth and value creation strategy, and we expect these restaurants will generate unit volumes and restaurant-level operating profit margins in line with our Company-owned restaurants. Beyond that, though, this acquisition fortifies our organization and strengthens our ranks as we welcome more than 500 new employees into our corporate-owned system and ‘You First’ culture — an incredible responsibility that’s very important to us.”

The 16 acquired restaurants are located in the Charlotte and Concord DMAs in North Carolina, and the Columbia and Greenville DMAs in South Carolina.

First Watch has acquired 64 total franchised restaurants across eight acquisitions since May 2023.