Name: Jordan Chirico
New title: Executive vice president and head of debt capital markets, Fat Brands
Previous title: Portfolio manager, 3|5|2 Capital
Chirico has nearly 20 years of experience working on Wall Street. He spent the first half of his career working in structured finance at Bank of America, Robert W. Baird and Credit Suisse, according to the press release announcing his appointment. In 2012, he switched to asset management at Baird when he became managing director, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also worked in portfolio management at Brigade Capital Management and, most recently, at 3|5|2 Capital.
In his new role, Chirico will focus on Fat’s balance sheet, including “its $1.2 billion whole business securitization portfolio, additional acquisition financings, preferred stock and other debt related strategies,” the press release said. He will work on refinancing existing debt, new debt issuance and reducing leverage, the company said in an email to Restaurant Dive.
“FAT Brands is uniquely positioned to continue its growth trajectory and Jordan’s expertise will be beneficial as we look to both bolster the balance sheet and be efficient in our financings,” Rob Rosen, co-CEO of Fat Brands said in the press release.
The company’s debt grew to over $1 billion as a result of a run of acquisitions starting in 2019. Among the companies it has acquired are Global Franchise Group, Twin Peaks, Fazoli's, Johnny Rockets, Nestle Toll House Cafe and Smokey Bones. As part of its strategy to deleverage its portfolio, Fat is planning to spin off Twin Peaks through an IPO. It confidentially submitted a registration statement in May to make the operating units of Twin Peaks and Smokey Bones a separate public company from Fat Brands.
